Konoha's Scarlet Claw
by NoNameNeeded
Summary: What would Naruto be like if he had been born 4 years earlier, Kyuubi still being sealed inside of him. What would he be like if he had grown up with Itachi, reaching shinobi ranks along side him. He is now 16, a jounin who just took on team 7. AU & OCnes
1. Introductions And Meetings

**Okay, I've had this idea in my head for ages now and I finally decided to give this a shot, so I hope that some one will enjoy it, if they don't then… well… I enjoyed so… yeah…**

**Anyway, this will be the disclaimer for the whole of this fic, as it is both space and time wasting to rewrite at the top of every single chapter, so let it be known…**

* * *

Prologue- The events that happened on October tenth, the day Naruto was born, took place four years earlier. His mother is Tsunade and his father is Dan, who was killed a few months before Naruto's birth. Tsunade left Naruto at an orphanage on the day he was born as she couldn't bear to keep him around as he reminded her too much of Dan and the fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi inside of Naruto. He is currently sixteen and is a jounin. More will be revealed in the story.

_Knock, knock…_

"Enter."

"You asked to see me Hokage-sama?"

"Yes Naruto, come, sit down." Naruto complied and, when he sat down, he leaned forward to hear what Sarutobi wanted him for.

The third smiled before he spoke. "Naruto… I want you to take on a genin team."

"A genin team? But why have you suddenly decided that I should be a sensei?"

"Now, now, you're more then qualified to be a sensei, besides; there is another reason why I want you to do this… Uchiha Sasuke has now become a genin and he is to be placed on a team… Your team."

"But wouldn't someone like Kakashi be more appropriate for an Uchiha?"

"Maybe, but, Sasuke is obsessed with getting revenge by killing his brother… He would do anything to get the power to do so… He needs someone who has had it like he has. Someone who has had the pains which he has had, who'll be able to remind him that there us more to life, to open his eyes. That is why I want you…"

"I don't know…"

"Luckily, I do. You'll be meeting your team tomorrow at ten at the academy. The other two students will be Haruno Sakura…" At the mention of a Haruno, Naruto rolled his eyes. He knew what Harunos' were like; over obsessive and an inner self. "… and Inuzuka Kiba, who I think will be able to learn quite a bit from you, due to your… style."

Naruto sat there for a while, pondering whether or not to accept, but soon decided that this wasn't optional. "Very well… But this means that I'll be able to choose there final test, right?"

"Yes, but remember that I want you to be their sensei…"

Naruto just waved it off. "Yes, yes…"

"You may go now."

Naruto then stood up and left, on his way back home to prepare for the following day.

_**The next day…**_

"Alright everyone, silence please." Iruka then looked around the room but nobody was paying attention. "SHUT UP!" In a split second, everyone was silent. "Good… Now I am very pleased that everyone passed, though I had no doubts that you wouldn't. You'll all be placed into teams of three, all of which will have been made fairly. I'll now call them out…" He began to read out teams one to six. "… Team seven will consist of Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. Team eight will be made of Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Fushigi Hinoiri (for description, look at the bottom of the page)…" "… Team ten will have Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. Alright, that's everyone. Also, your senseis will be…" "… Team seven's will be…" Iruka smiled as he read the name in his head. He knew this person well. "… Uzumaki Naruto. Team eight's will be Yuhi Kurenai…" "… Team ten's will be Sarutobi Asuma. Okay then, your sensei's should all be coming to collect you soon." And with that, the chatter once again began, and Iruka just sat down heavily on his chair and rubbed his temples. On the board behind him, there were three words that were vital to any ninja, 'underneath the underneath'.

One by one, senseis came and teams went until there were only three left, teams three, four and seven. The door opened once again and in came a person in his mid teens who was lean, had platinum blond spiky hair (Ino's hair colour) with a braid between his right ear and right eye, which had a leather thong woven into it with wooden beads as well. There were two silver rings around the top of his right ear and his hitai-ite was tied around the top of his left arm, whilst there was some bandaging around his top right arm. He had deep ocean blue eyes, three whisker-like marks on each cheek. His attire consisted of a pair of black shinobi sandals, a pair of deep purple cargo pants, a fish-net t-shirt with the typical green jounin vest on top, unzipped.

"Hey Iruka. How are things going?"

"Long time no see Naruto… Things have been well… Anyway, I assume you're here to collect your team?"

"Naturally…"

"Alright team seven; this is your sensei, Uzumaki Naruto." At the mention of this, the three members of team seven got plate-sized eyes and their jaws fell to the ground.

"No way! He can't be our sensei! He's not even that much older then we are!" Kiba shouted out, getting barks from Akamaru to back him up.

"If that is how you feel, then I could always leave and you three will have to wait until next year to become genin."

"Now, now, there is no need for that. Team seven, you are lucky to have Naruto as your sensei and you should treat him with respect. He is more then qualified to be your sensei anyway." Iruka shouted.

"It's alright Iruka, I'm more then use to it… Anyway, anyone from team seven who doesn't want to wait until next year to become a genin, meet me up on the roof in ten minutes…" Naruto then began to walk out until he stopped. "See you later Iruka…" And with that, he was gone.

_**Ten minutes later on the roof…**_

The three genins were all on the roof top, sitting on the step, waiting for their sensei to arrive. Seconds passed until there was a _poof_, when the smoke cleared; there stood their sensei, giving off a fox-like grin.

"Glad to know that you all decided to give it a shot. Anyway, why don't we all tell us a little about our selves…"

"Like what?" Sakura questioned.

"Oh, you know… the usual… Your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, interest and dreams… that sort of thing."

"Um, why don't you go first so that we can see how it's done?"

"Okay then, I guess that's fair… My name's Uzumaki Naruto, I have too many likes to name, dislikes… I don't really think I have any… hobbies… well, I like training and the sort I guess, interests… again, there are too many to name and my dream, well, that's kinda personal… Alright, now why don't you go Bubblegum."

"My name's Haruno Sakura, I like…" Looks at Sasuke and giggles. "My dislikes are Ino-pig, my hobbies and interests are…" Looks at Sasuke and giggles again. "As for my dream…" Looks at Sasuke for the third time and giggles.

Naruto sweatdrops, _over obsessive…_ "Um, okay then, very nice… How about you dog-breath?"

Kiba gives Naruto evils before he begins. "My name is Inuzuka Kiba, my likes are hanging with Akamaru, my dislikes are people like you who think they are all that…" Naruto just shakes his head from side to side. "My hobbies are training with Akamaru and my family and my interests are my family's techniques, and my dream… I want to become the head of my clan."

"Good, good… Now it's your turn chicken wire."

Sasuke ignores the comment and begins. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I have few likes and many dislikes… I have my hobbies and interest… And my dream, it's more of an ambition, as it will happen… I want to revive my clan… and kill a certain person."

_Geez, Sarutobi wasn't kidding with this kid…_

"Great, now, tomorrow morning, we'll be meeting at training grounds seven for your final test to see whether or not you're good enough to be genin."

"But we're already genin!"

"No, the tests which you have all done was to see whether or not you would qualify for this test. The test which you will be taking tomorrow will decide whether or not you'll become a genin. The fail rate of this test is well over sixty percent, so you'll have to work much harder."

"But that's not fair."

"Life isn't fair Bubblegum. Now, before I go, I must warn you not to eat breakfast tomorrow, unless, that is, you enjoy being sick everywhere." And with that, Naruto was gone in a _poof_.

"You think he meant that thing about being sick?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know, but I do know that I don't like that guy." Kiba declared. By then, Sasuke had already left and Sakura, after realizing, went in search of him.

_**The next day…**_

"Where is our sensei?! He said that we were supposed to be here in the morning, but he isn't even here himself!" Kiba shouted. He was now fuming, his patience, though he had little, was all gone and he had mentally decided to kill their sensei as soon as he arrived.

It was ten thirty before Naruto arrived. The first one to greet him was Kiba.

"Where have you been ?! You told us to meet us here in the morning."

"I know, but I forgot to tell you the time and it's still morning for another one and a half hours. So you don't really have a reason to be angry at me. Anyway, I'm glad that you are all here now so that we can begin." Naruto then took a small bag out of his pocket. "In this bag, there are nine keys; three red, three yellow and three blue. You will all be given two keys each, so that both of your teammates will have the colour key which you're missing. I will have the last set of keys." Naruto paused to make sure that they understood so far.

"You will have until noon to achieve one of each keys', and if you do, then you will pass. However if you don't, then you will be strapped to a tree whilst the ones that did pass, along with myself, will eat our lunches in front of you."

"But why did you tell us that we shouldn't eat breakfast then?"

"It's a simple trick for this test. It's make you all work harder so that you'll be able to eat. It'll also cloud your judgement… Anyway… remember to come at me with the intention to kill, otherwise you'll have no hope of passing." He then took out the keys and gave Sakura a red and a yellow, Sasuke a blue and a yellow and Kiba a red and a blue. He then pulled out the last three keys to prove that he had them. "Alright… BEGIN!" everyone then disappeared into the forest, leaving Naruto alone. He shrugged and then lay down on the ground, falling asleep.

Meanwhile, Kiba was hiding behind a bush, watching his sensei sleeping. _He won't know what hit him until it's too late… I'll kick his butt so hard that there won't be anything left… _

"You know… You should never show your back to your enemy." Naruto said from behind him, making Kiba spin round so fast that you would have missed it if you blinked.

"What? How?"

"You should never underestimate anyone." But Kiba wasn't listening, he jumped right at Naruto, who disappeared in a _poof_ of smoke.

"How did he…"

"I used a shadow clone." Naruto answered from up high in a tree before Kiba got a chance to finish his question.

"You'll pay for that!" Kiba jumped at Naruto again, but this time Naruto didn't disappear, he simply caught both of Kiba's hands with one and both of Kiba's feet with Naruto's other hand. "You forgot someone!" Kiba said, smirking. Akamaru then appeared from Kiba's jacket. However, Naruto had not forgotten about out furry little friend. He smiled.

"What's so funny?" Kiba demanded, whilst Akamaru made his way towards Naruto's face.

Naruto closed his eyes and, when they opened again, they revealed, not his usual ocean blue eyes, but blood-red eyes with hair thin slits. He also bared his teeth which were now pointed and had a pair of extra long and pointed fangs. Immediately, Akamaru retreated back to where he came from. Naruto closed his eyes and mouth again, returning them to normal.

Kiba had also seen it and he was speechless and shocked, rendering him from moving, which was also helped by the fact that Naruto had him held tight. Naruto just simply smiled and threw Kiba to the other side of the clearing.

"Now, where was I…" Naruto then laid back down on the ground to rest.

In the meantime, Sasuke had been out searching the surround forest of training grounds seven for either Kiba or Sakura to get the missing key off one of the two, that would be the easiest way to pass, which he must do in order to reach his goal.

He had seen where Kiba was, but before he got a chance to attack, Naruto had intervened, so now he was after Sakura, whom he knew he could easily beat.

He finally found her running around the forest, like she was looking for something or someone. He followed her discreetly until she stopped, hiding behind a branch in a tree.

"Oi… Kiba! Get up here!" She whispered loudly. Kiba, who had been down on the ground, got suspicious as to why she wanted him to get up there.

"Why? Do you want to steal my key?"

"No, no… I need to tell you something."

"Fine." So Kiba jumped up into the tree, landing next to Sakura. "So, what is it that you want to tell me exactly?"

"We won't be able to get a key from Naruto-sensei on our own. And don't deny it, I saw you two. Also, we can't take them from each other, that's just wrong."

"Then what should we do?"

"We need to work as a team and get the keys from Naruto. So we have to find Sasuke as well."

"Alright…"

Sasuke had heard the whole thing, and thought that his teammates were being dim, thinking that that would work. So he decided to jump down to them and prove that he didn't need them.

"Sasuke! We're glad that you're here. We have something to tell…"

"… I already heard everything that you said."

"So you agree with us?"

"No… I'm here to show that I don't need anyone to help me. That people will only just slow me down." Sasuke then got into a fighting stance.

Sakura and Kiba however, didn't believe what they were hearing; Sasuke would fight his own teammates so that he could progress forward.

"B-but Sasuke-kun… You can't do that!" Sakura tried, but went ignored. Sasuke leaped, heading towards his two teammates, however, he was stopped in mid-air. Sasuke looked behind him to find that it was their sensei who had stopped him.

"Times up…" Naruto said, his tone indicated that he was disappointed, though no-one knew exactly why.

Minutes later, all four of them were back to where they had been right before the test had begun. The three genins were sitting quietly down on the ground whilst Naruto stood up in front of them, his arms crossed and his eyes shut. He stood there for a while, letting the silence linger around them, thoughts shooting through his head, tying to decide what to do. Finally he spoke.

"Does anyone remember what was written on the board in Iruka's classroom the day when the teams were made?"

No answer.

" 'Underneath the underneath', the key for a ninja… Does anyone know what it means then?"

No answer.

"It means that you must find the hidden truth, rather then going for the obvious or following directly what you have been told… The key to this test was for you to work as a team, not for you to actually get the full set of keys…" Naruto finally opened his eyes and looked at his team.

"A friend of mine believes that 'those who break the rules are trash, but those who don't put their teammates first are lower then trash'… And I agree with him…"

"But Naruto-sensei, why did you then give us all different keys, instead of giving us the same ones?" Sakura asked quietly.

"I wanted to see if you would take the easy route and take away a teammate's chance at passing, or if you gave your key to a teammate so that they could pass, sacrificing yourself for a teammate, or whether you would all work together to obtain the keys from me… If you did the last two, then I would have passed you all, but only two of you would work as a team." Naruto's gaze went over to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, you thought that your teammates would just slow you down and therefore you chose the easiest way by going against them, even when they offered to work as a team with you. That is not the way in which a ninja must work."

"However, since two of you got the idea of this test, I will give you all a second chance to prove yourselves…" Naruto's gaze shifted to the left, where it was held. Everyone else followed it to find that Naruto was looking at three wooden posts on the other end of the clearing. All three genins looked back at their sensei questionably.

Naruto had a smile on his face, slightly devilish. "Sakura, Kiba, both of you will be tied to those stumps over there whilst Sasuke and I will be eating our lunches." Both Sakura's and Kiba's jaws hit the ground.

"B-but… That's not fair!" Kiba began.

"Life isn't fair Kiba." Naruto retorted as he walked over to his bag and pulled out two lengths of rope, using them to tie the two genins to the stumps. He also used another piece of rope to tie Akamaru so that he wouldn't bite threw Kiba's rope. He then brought out two lunch packets, throwing one to Sasuke who caught it. He began to eat swiftly.

Naruto then stood up again. "Sasuke, here, have mine, I have to go off somewhere so there is no point wasting it…" He began to walk off but stopped abruptly. "… And DON'T give ANY to Sakura or Kiba, or you will fail!" And he was off.

Sasuke then began to eat, listening to the groans coming from his teammates' stomachs, getting louder as time went by. He couldn't take it anymore. He took the food packet which Naruto had given him and held it up to his teammates.

"W-what are you dong Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"You're hungry, aren't you? So I'm giving you something to eat."

"Bu… But Naruto-sensei told you not to give any to us!"

"I know… But he's not around, so eat." He held out his chopsticks to both of his teammates, who took the food, thankful to Sasuke.

There was a _poof_ of smoke and there stood Naruto, with an angry, and scary, expression on his face. "SASUKE!"

Sasuke didn't show any obvious signs of fear, but Naruto knew that he was, and mentally smiled. In a blink of an eye, Naruto's facial expression changed and he now had a wide grin on his face and he began to clap his hands. "You all pass…" He said softly.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his jaw slightly ajar.

"You passed because, even when I explicitly told you not to feed your teammates, you did, meaning that you sacrificed your own chance or passing so that they could eat, which is what I wanted you to do." He said to Sasuke.

"All of you have showed signs of teamwork, so you are now all officially genin. Congratulations." He said softly.

It took a minute for it to sink in, but when it did, Kiba cheered, Akamaru barked, Sakura was smiling like there was no tomorrow and Sasuke nodded his head slightly, though he was very pleased, but he didn't want to show it.

"But remember, you must carry on working as a team, or you will never advance in the ranks of a ninja." Everyone nodded in understanding. But then Kiba remembered something.

"Naruto-sensei?"

"Yes…"

"What was it that you pulled back there… I mean the red eyes and stuff."

"I don't think that you have the right to know that, at least not yet."

"Why? Is it too good for us or something? I bet it was some sort of genjutsu! Yeah, that's it; it was some sort of genjutsu!"

"Kiba, it wasn't a genjutsu. And just so you know this for future references, my genjutsu isn't all that good. However, I make up for it by exceeding in other areas of the field."

"So you're telling me that your not that good a jounin?!"

"No, that's not what I'm saying."

"Then how good are you?!"

"I'd rather not say."

"Why, because you know that you suck?!"

"You know Kiba, just because you're good at something doesn't mean that you have to flaunt it in everyone's faces. Also, like a magician, a ninja must never reveal his tricks."

"Oh, so now you're a magician. I thought that you were supposed to be our sensei!"

"Kiba, that's enough."

Kiba was about to retort until he found that he couldn't, he was frozen in place by fear as Naruto was sending a vast amount of killing intent at him. Both Sakura and Sasuke could also feel it, but they could also feel that it wasn't being directed at them, but something or someone near. They then saw that Kiba was about to piss himself, but the killer intent stopped before it was too late.

"Will you stop now, Kiba? Or will I have to make you wet yourself?"

"No, no… I'm good."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now… everyone, meet me here tomorrow at eleven so that we can begin with our missions… Oh, and before I go, if anyone of you wishes to find me, there are three places to look; my house, Ichiraku ramen stand or at the dingo dango café… Any questions?"

"How will we know where your house is?" Sakura asked.

"You will all have received letters which contain the information which you need, as I have received a letter containing the information which I need about you… Any other questions? No? Good, I'm off then." And he disappeared in a _poof_.

_**At the local bar and restaurant…**_

Kakashi was sitting on a stool by the bar, enjoying a drink after the long day which he had had. He let out a long sigh.

"Hey Kakashi."

Said person turned round to find that it was Naruto who had greeted him.

"Naruto… What are you doing here? You don't drink."

"I had a feeling that you would be here today…" He said.

A light chuckle came from Kakashi. "I heard that the Third made you take on a genin team." He received a nod as Naruto sat on the stool next to him, turning his head towards Kakashi.

"I heard that you were also to take one on… But I guess that it didn't go too well since you got that drink there."

"Right as always… This team was even worse then the last one; two of them began to fight to find out which one of them could go against me first… honestly…"

"I know what you mean… So I guess that you used the bell test again?"

"Of course… What about you?"

"I used the key test… Two of them began to work as a team, except for the Uchiha…" Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "He was going to fight his teammates so that he could advance…"

"So what happened in the end?"

"I gave them a second chance since two of them got the right idea."

"The lunch trick?"

"Yep… And it worked, thank Kami. If it didn't, then I don't know what I would have done."

"Why's that?"

"The Third made sure that I had Sasuke on my team, which was the only reason why I was chosen as a sensei. He wanted me to be his sensei, for more personal reasons…" Kakashi nodded in understanding.

There was silence for a while until Naruto spoke.

"That book of yours is going to be full in no time if you don't pass a genin team soon…" Kakashi just eye-smiled back.

* * *

Fushigi Hinoiri (Miracle Sunset) :

Hair: light brown, short around the sides but long around and within the crown of his head

Eyes: amber, with hints of brown in them

Height: same as Shikamaru's

Clothing: thin, dark beige jacket; brown t-shirt; dark brown trousers; blue shinobi sandals; blue hitai-ite around his right arm

Birthday: 17th March

Personality: pleasant; doesn't take much seriously; hates being insulted; forgetful; loyal

Skills: None, but his genjutsu is better then his taijutsu and ninjutsu. Average aim; in both kunai and shurikan. Academic test results: average

Family: non-shinobi family; his mother died when she gave birth to his younger sister and his father owns a bakery/café. Names (age): mother-Sora (died at 31); father-Etaishin (40); older brother-Kioi (17); younger sister-Shizukesa (7). They live in decent sized house in the middle of town.

**This is only a minor character in the story, but he will have a few short appearances later on in the fic, though nothing too important. He was simply made as I was in need of another genin and well, I could either make an OC or use someone like Hanabi, but I didn't really want to use her as that might make this fic harder to write.**

**And another thing, his name doesn't mean anything in the fic, I just thought that it sounded good so yeah, that was kinda it…**

**Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoyed the first chapter and I will try and update as soon as I can, without making it seemed rush… **

**Until Next Time…**


	2. Mission In The Waves 1

**Okay then here is another chapter for you all to read and preferably enjoy as well. **

**I'm going back to school tomorrow (Thursday) so I won't be updating for a short bit, but I'll try and get another chapter out sometime in September, if that's Ok. I might be lucky and be able to write more, but we'll see when that happens.**

**Also, this fic is dedicated to none other then 'raziel44', hope you enjoy this chapter, along with everyone else…**

* * *

"OW!"

"Hold him still-...!"

"But it just scratched me! AGAIN!"

"That's because cats don't generally like dogs, or you for that matter!"

"Well then why don't you take the darn thing?!"

"Fine, then hand him over!" Sakura demanded as Kiba stood up and handed the cat, Tora, to her. This was the sixth time in two weeks in which they had to go and catch the daimyo's wife's cat.

Kiba stood up, growling slightly had he had numerous scratch and bite marks all over him. "I don't get it. How can something so insignificant-…"

"…That's a pretty big word, coming from you, isn't it dog-breath."

Kiba, along with Sakura and Sasuke, who had been silently leaning against a tree nearby, all turned around to find that it was their sensei who had just insulted Kiba, who just narrowed his eyes and looked about ready to assault Naruto.

"You know that if you attempt to attack me then you will get your butt kicked."

"Yeah right! You just got lucky last time!"

"Oh? And what about the time before that… and before that… and bef-…"

"Alright, I get it. But you still got lucky."

Meanwhile, Sakura had been giggling silently to herself. "You know Kiba, he has beaten you every single time you tried to attack him. Pretty swiftly if I might add."

"Just keep your pretty mouth closed if you know what's best for you!" Kiba threatened.

"Now, now, there is no point in threatening your teammates, only I can do that."

"And why is that?!"

"Because I can hold my threats, unlike some people."

"You just wait!"

"I'm sure, but before we get too carried away with this lovely discussion, we need to get back to the Hokage so that we can report back from our mission and give the Daimyo's wife her cat back. I'm sure that she'll be thrilled."

"Yes Naruto-sensei." Sakura beamed.

"Whatever…" Kiba growled to himself.

Minutes later, the four of them and Tora the cat were in the Hokage's office, standing before said person.

"Good, good…" Sarutobi said before taking a puff of his pipe. "… Now, I have another D-ranked-…"

"NO!... No, no, no, no, NO! I'm sick of all of these pointless chores that you call missions."

"Oh?... So what would you have me do then Kiba?" Sarutobi replied with a smile plastered on his face.

"Well, I'd give us an awesome mission as we would easily be able to complete."

"Now don't go and get too cocky Kiba." Naruto hissed, his left eye slightly twitching and a vein evident on his forehead.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi just chuckled more to himself. _I could give them a C-rank, just this once… Besides, if anything were to go wrong, then Naruto could easily take care of it…_ "Very well."

"Huh?" Was the answer he got from the people in front of him, excluding Sasuke, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"I'll give you a C-ranked mission, to see if you can handle it… All you have to do is escort someone back to the wave country and guard him as he finishes building a bridge over there… Tazuna, please come on in."

The door opened and in stepped a large man with grey hair and a flask of sake in his hand, no doubt half empty.

"Team seven, this is your client, Tazuna."

Said person looked around the room, not liking what he was seeing. "So I paid good money for three little brata and a teenager?!... I expected someone more… skilled."

"Why you-…!" Kiba began but was quickly stopped by his sensei.

"We were hired to protect him, not kill him Kiba." Naruto scolded, placing Kiba gently back on the floor.

Tazuna just scoffed. "You don't honestly expect me to except that these are the people who are supposed to… protect me, do you?"

"Tazuna-san, please respect the Hokage!" Naruto warned. Indeed, he himself was getting a bit pissed off with the guy.

"It's quite alright Naruto… Tazuna, with all due respect, this genin team is fine for the request, besides, if anything were to go wrong, then Naruto here will be more then qualified for whatever happens. He may be young, but he is skilled."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Both Tazuna and Kiba said at exactly the same time. Again, another vein was evident on Naruto's forehead.

"You will all leave in an hour, so off with you now…" The Third said cheerfully, said people leaving the room, complaining to themselves about their own troubles. The Hokage couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

_**An hour later, at the gate…**_

All five of them were now present at the gates where they were to leave from.

"Alright everyone, it's time to leave." Naruto said, and with that, he took the first step, followed by everyone else swiftly afterwards.

For the first hour they all walked in silence, until Kiba couldn't take it anymore.

"I doubt that you are that skilled, even if the Hokage did say so himself." He directed this, of course, to Naruto, who didn't respond.

"Oh… so you're not denying what I just said?... Well, that just proves my theory."

"What theory?" Naruto asked, in a slightly non bothered voice, though he was very sick and tired of the boy and his rants about Naruto.

"Just that you're only a jounin because the Hokage favours you and stuff…" That did it. Naruto couldn't hold it in; however, he took a deep breath before he began to talk.

"… Do you want to know what level I was at, at your age?" This caught the attention of the whole group.

"Yes." Kiba replied stubbornly.

"When I was twelve years old, I was an Anbu."

Everyone in the group stopped dead in their tracks, with eyes wide open and jaws down on the ground. Naruto stopped, turned around and faced everyone. "What?"

It took a couple of minutes before the jaws were picked up. Kiba naturally spoke first. "Prove it!" He dared, with a smirk evident on his face.

Naruto sighed, before his hand made its way to the bandaging around the top of his right arm, removing it to show his team what was hidden underneath. His proof. There, on the side of his arm, was the tattoo which every Anbu received to show that they were, indeed, an Anbu.

Sasuke saw it, and was shocked, whilst he thought. _He was already an Anbu at my age, and I'm still a genin… He can teach me how to beat Itachi… He has strength, I can see it now…_

Naruto's face showed no emotion, which was very unlike him when he was with his team, as he was always smiling, or twitching when Kiba went too far. His facial expression had an air of authority and strength, one that should not be taken lightly. "Will you stop with the ranting now, Kiba?" He asked, his voice also lacking emotions.

All Kiba could do was stare, until he nodded dumbly.

Naruto's face went back to normal as he smiled. "Good. Now, I think we should carry on walking before it gets too dark." Everyone else followed Naruto's lead.

Minutes later, Sakura asked Naruto a question which had been pondering her. "Um, Naruto-sensei, can I ask you a question?"

"You mean apart from the one you just asked now? Sure, why not."

"Um, if you were an Anbu at our age… then when did you become a genin?"

"I was six."

Again, Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. _H-he was younger then Itachi was, by a whole year… I must get him to teach me and make me stronger…_

"Is that all that you wanted to ask Sakura?"

"Also, if you were an Anbu at our age, then why did you quit?" She looked up to her sensei and saw that his face was no longer that of his happy self, but more distanced and sad.

"… I left… For more personal reasons…"

Sakura just nodded slowly.

"Is there anything else?"

"Nuh uh." Naruto just nodded happily to that as they carried on.

They set up camp that night, Naruto keeping alert the whole time, with the help of a certain tenant, whilst he and everyone else slept soundly that night.

The next day, the headed off again. The sun was shining, not a single cloud in the sky and it was hot and dry. So when they came across a pair of puddles in the middle of the path they were walking on, Naruto immediately knew that something was wrong, so he was now more alert then ever, though he made sure not to show it to anyone else, as he didn't want them to worry about it, not until they had to at least.

So the five carried on walking, Kiba at the front, Tazuna in the middle with Sasuke and Sakura on either side with Naruto at the back. This went fine for about half an hour, until:

Sasuke had been minding his own business and brooding as he would when he heard a scream which sounded a bit like a war cry along with something that sounded like two rubber balls being hit together, hard. He quickly turned around to see that his sensei was standing over two nins, who were lying down on the ground, unconscious.

What had happened was that Naruto had sensed them come running at them and, when they were close enough; he had jumped up and grabbed the hood of their cloaks, effectively hitting both of their heads together, leaving them unconscious, as they were now.

"Tazuna-san…" Said person turned around. "…Would you mind telling me why you have two chuunins attacking us, as I though that we were only supposed to protect you from bandits."

"I-I don't know what mean…"

Naruto however, didn't believe him as he raised a questionable eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, if you don't know, then I'm afraid that we'll just have to head back to Konoha as this mission is now above that of a C-ranked."

"…N-no wait… You don't understand, this was all which we could afford, and only barely."

"Care to explain." It wasn't so much of a question as there wasn't an option of him explaining. And so, Tazuna explained everything from Gatou to the Wave Country's lack of prosperity. After he was done, Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose as he was in deep thought. He then spoke.

"Alright, this mission has increased in rank, by how much though, I'm not sure yet. But by the description you gave me of this Gatou guy, I believe that he will send more after you, stronger ones at that. My genin team here may not be skilled enough or have an adequate amount of experience to continue with this-…"

"But sensei, we-…"

"I was about to continue before you felt it right to butt in Kiba. Anyway, as I was saying, because of this, I believe that is up to my team whether or not we should continue, but be warned, we will meet dangerous shinobi and, unlike at the academy, mistakes will cost you more then just a waste of time… so, what does everyone think?" Naruto then began to look around at the three genins.

"I'm up for a challenge!" Kiba shouted out.

Sasuke just smirked with a slight nod of the head to say that he was in.

However, when Naruto looked over to Sakura, he could see that she wasn't as optimistic as her teammates. "Um… I… don't know…"

"Sakura, it is your choice whether or not you want to continue. I can't force you and neither can anyone else, so if you want to go back then we can. But if you choose to stay then remember that I will protect every one of you, I'll make sure that you all stay safe, because you are all my teammates, so I must put you all before myself, alright?"

Sakura nodded, with a small smile evident. "Alright, we can continue."

"Well, Tazuna-san, you are quite lucky that we're all too stubborn to back down, so, I say that we continue and everyone… keep your guard up."

"Thank you… everyone." Tazuna said softly. He received one of Naruto's infamous fox-like grins.

"No problem, anyway, we best get moving." But before Naruto carried on, he did a few hand signs and mumbled 'summoning jutsu', almost to himself. There was a _poof_, and in front of him, stood a green fox with a bushy tale.

"Naruto." Was all it said.

"Aokitsune, please go back to Konoha and inform the Hokage of everything and ask him to send someone out to collect the demon brothers."

"Yes." And the green fox was off. Naruto smiled as the five of them carried on with their trip to the Waves Country.

_**Two days later, in Wave Country…**_

They had just reached Wave Country by boat, and had been walking for only a couple of minutes. They hadn't talked since the incidence with the Demon Brothers since they were all nervous and on high alert. It was early morning and there was a thick mist which only seemed to get thicker as time went by. There was an eerie silence about, which was giving Sakura goosebumps.

"DUCK!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed Sakura and Tazuna, throwing them down to the ground with himself as a clone which had quickly made did the same with Sasuke and Kiba. He looked up to find that an eight foot long sword wedged into the tree with a person standing up on top of it. Naruto quickly jumped up as he recognised who that person was.

"Momochi Zabuza, demon of the mist, if I'm not mistaken."

"I'm glad that I'm recognised, though, I can't say that I know who you are."

"That's because I'm missing a few accessories." Naruto replied with an air of confidence.

"Even if you had them, you still won't be able to beat me, so therefore I have an offer for you. If you give me the old man then I'll let you, along with the three brats, live."

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that as it is my, no, our mission to protect him, so protect him we shall."

"Very nice speech, though it won't help you." It was then that the mist thickened even more, making it almost impossible to see more then a couple of feet in front of you.

"Kiba, Sakura, Sasuke! Protect Tazuna, I'll take care of this guy!"

"Bu-…"

"No buts. This guy is way out of your league. He is classifies as an A-rank nukenin, so leave him to me, understood?!"

"Yes Naruto-sensei." The three chorused.

"Good."

Everyone tensed up as they heard Zabuza's voice, though they couldn't pinpoint it as it seemed to be coming from all around them. He was describing the points of the body where he could kill them, sending shivers down the spines of everyone, apart from Naruto, as he was too busy trying to figure out where Zabuza was.

His senses caught swift, but quiet, movements, so he moved.

_CLANG!_

"What? How did you-…?" Zabuza began.

"Know? Well, I have my tricks."

Zabuza was standing right in front of Tazuna, the three genin around him, his sword at hands, however, they did not meet the flesh which they had been aimed at, as Naruto at made it there just in time to block the slash with a pair of kunai, inches away from Tazuna's neck.

Sasuke had looked behind him immediately after hearing the clash of metal. _H-how was he able to move so fast… I didn't even hear him or sense him… His speed must be so incredible…_

Naruto brought one of his hands down, kunai still present and slashed right into Zabuza's abdomen. However, no blood came as this Zabuza melted into water. "A water clone…" Naruto mumbled to himself.

"I must admit that you're pretty fast, however, I will still win."

"Fat chance!" Naruto retorted. There was a smile evident on his face which could easily be interpreted as a smirk. Zabuza raised an invisible eyebrow. "Why don't I show you one of my… accessories?" It wasn't a question, more of an intro.

Naruto raised his arms to either side, hands scrunched tightly together.

"That's it?"

"No." Naruto then, arms still up, began to draw in a lot of air, keeping it in once he couldn't take in anymore. He scrunched up his eyes as he prepared for the pain to come.

All the while, all of his students were wandering the same thing. _What the hell is he doing?..._

Naruto readied himself before he forced the necessary chakra through his arms in order to push the blades out. In a blink of an eye, three blade came out in between his knuckles on both hands, said blades being about one foot long. (Think of Logan/Wolverine from X-man) Naruto grunted slightly from the pain when the blades ripped through his skin and anything else that were in their paths. No blood managed to leak as the wounds around the blades had already healed. Naruto brought his arms back down again as he bent his knees, right behind and his left in front. He brought his right arm behind, curving his arm upwards whilst his (I'm just going to call the blades; blades) blades were pointed down on the ground. His left arm was the same except the opposite way round; it being in front of him and the blade pointing upwards.

When Naruto opened his eyes, the blue was gone as it had been replaced by the blood red eyes with slits. His grin was now wide, slightly freaky to anyone passing by (no, no one passed by but if they did, then they would have been freaked by the smile). His canines had also grown, doubled in length and sharpness.

All the while, Zabuza's eyes had been widening until they could no longer. "Y-you're Konoha's Scarlet Claw."

"Oh, so now you recognise me, though I'm sorry it took you so long." Naruto replied playfully.

"S-sensei…" Naruto immediately looked behind him towards his genin team. When he did, they all flinched at the appearance of their sensei.

"Just protect Tazuna-san and I'll take care of the rest." He said as he looked towards Zabuza, who had now moved himself onto the water's surface. Naruto then, also, walked onto the water, not falling in as he used chakra to stay above.

"You do know that you are at a disadvantage now that you are on the water." Zabuza warned, though he sounded happy about it. He only got a shrug in reply, which pissed him off slightly.

"So, you've heard of my name, but what about my doings?"

"Yes, I have heard, quite a lot in fact. But, rumours tend to over exaggerate things. Besides, you seem far too young to have been able to have achieved all of which you have been rumoured to."

A vein popped out again on Naruto's forehead. _Why is it that everyone has to make a big deal about my age?!... Is it really that hard to understand?... I guess so…_ Yes, Naruto was sick about everyone dissing him just because he was only sixteen years of age. He had plenty of experience and that's what counted, right?

The two stood there for a few seconds, both of them motionless, until Naruto crossed his fingers, and called "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" as eight shadow clones surrounded Zabuza, each of them throwing shuriken at him before they, too make handseals, all of them calling out "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". All of the shuriken instantly increased in number as they were airborne.

Zabuza, however, was quick, as he made his own handseals, calling out, "Suiton: Suijinheki." As a wall of water rose around him, protecting himself from the shuriken.

But Naruto expected this as he had been running straight towards Zabuza, right fist behind him ready to punch Zabuza, blades out. The water wall fell and when Naruto's fist connected, he found out that that was just another water clone. Naruto looked around but couldn't find any trace of the nukenin, so that left him with one option as of where he was; underwater.

Naruto jumped and flipped in the air, as a large sword just abruptly pieced through the surface of the water, right where Naruto had been standing not long before. Zabuza quickly appeared. The two then ran straight at the other, prepared to face each other face to face.

Zabuza made a high swing, aiming for Naruto's head, but said person just ducked, just like Zabuza expected, so he quickly changed the direction which his sworn was going so that it was now going straight down onto Naruto, however, he stopped it, using his blades crossed together to push it off of him. Zabuza grunted as he jumped back so that he was a fair distance away from the young jounin.

He made more handseals before calling out, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu" as a huge amount of water rose and formed into the shape of a dragon, it quickly approaching Naruto, who was now making his own handseals. He shouted out, "Fūton: Rasenshuriken" as he formed a large wind shuriken in his hand, throwing it directly at the dragon, which dispersed on contact along with the shuriken.

Zabuza, again, ran straight towards Naruto, sword ready, Naruto also ran straight at him, however, he was also making handseals until he finished and called out, "Fūton: Daitoppa" as a massive wind came straight at Zabuza, blowing him back ruthlessly, slamming him straight into a tree, knocking him unconscious on contact. Naruto carried on running as he was prepared to finish the nukenin off but was too slow, as two senbon needles had pierced Zabuza's neck. Naruto stopped a few meters in front of him, looking in the direction which the senbon came from.

A hunter-nin immediately appeared. "Thank you for your assistance. I've been trying to catch him for some time now."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as the two smelt similar, with his enhanced sense of smell of cause. Something was not right here, but he would play along. "Yes, it's quite alright."

The hunter-nin then jumped over to Zabuza, throwing him over her shoulder, he could tell that she was a she, despite her attempts at hiding that perspective. The hunter-nin then disappeared along with Zabuza and the mist then also disappeared.

Naruto turned back to his team and client. "Zabuza isn't dead. He'll probably be back once he is fully rested and healed. So I suggest that we get to our destination quickly."

"But sensei, that hunter-nin killed Zabuza." Sakura said.

"Sakura, I'm surprised that you didn't know this, but it is near impossible to kill someone with a couple of senbon needles. Besides, if she really were a hunter-nin, then she would have disposed of Zabuza on the sight where he was killed. So I suspect that she is working for him somehow."

"She?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, the hunter-nin was a girl. Anyway, we should get moving." All five of them carried on walking, reaching the residence of Tazuna where they met his daughter, Tsunami and grandson, Inari.

_**Next morning…**_

Naruto awoke and strolled down the stairs to the kitchen as he followed th scent of the breakfast cooking, oh how it smelled good. He sat down on the chair, and noticed that all of his team were already there, eating their own breakfasts while Akamaru was down on the floor, drinking from a bowl of water.

"Good morning Naruto-san." Tsunami greeted, turning her head around for a brief second before walking over to him with a plate, food present on top of it.

"Thank you."

"Oh please, don't thank me, it's the least I could do for you, with you helping my father and all." Naruto just shrugged and began eating. The reason why he was up later then his team was because he had been up most of the night, debating about what to do with the situation they were in. Both Zabuza and the hunter-nin were strong, and he couldn't take them both on at the same time, so he would have to prepare his team for the worst.

He looked up to find that the three genins were finished eating and were all staring at him. He raised a questioning eyebrow. "What?" He asked plainly.

Sakura was the one to speak up. "Naruto-sensei, you were just scowling, and Kiba hasn't even said a word to you yet."

"Hey!" Kiba said, rather loudly at that.

"Oh, sorry about that, I was just thinking… and well, yeah, I decided that when you're all ready that we'll go outside so that I can train you all to prepare for… future events."

"Like what sensei?"

"Because I want you all to be ready for our next encounter with Zabuza and that hunter-nin. I won't be able to take them both at the same time, so I want you all to be prepared, alright?"

"Yes sensei."

"Good… Oh, and by the way Tsunami, I enjoyed the breakfast."

_**An hour later…**_

Naruto had lead the three genins into the middle of a large forest, them getting more confused with each step they took. They then abruptly stopped in front of a few very large and wide trees.

"Alright, you are all going to improve your chakra control by climbing these trees in front of me by-…"

"Climbing trees?! But how on earth is that going to help us. I mean, I can do that with my eyes closed." Kiba yelled.

"I was going to explain that before you so nicely interrupted me, so, as I was saying, you will be climbing these trees without the use of your hands." Naruto then put on a smug smile and looked at the three genin in front of him, who all looked confused.

"You will apply to your feet and release a certain amount so that you can stick to the tree. The higher you climb; the better chakra control you have. If you release too much chakra then you'll push yourself off of the bark and create a dent. If you release too little, then you won't stick and you'll simply fall off. Use a kunai to mark where you reach so you can see if you improve or not…" He looked around again and saw that they had more faith in him now, but they were still a bit confused. "… I'll show you all once hw to do it."

Naruto put his hands together and formed the seal of the ram. The soles of his feat began to glow slightly. He then walked over to a tree and placed one foot on, then another and then another so that he was now walking vertically up, defying gravity. It looked like he was just walking on solid ground. He then jumped back down and landed in a crouching position as he had reached the top of the tree.

"But I would advise you to start with a run-up, to get more momentum, if you get what I mean." With that, he walked over and sat down on a log, so that he could watch his team begin with their task.

Minutes later, he found that Sakura had reached the top on her first try. "Well, it seems that Sakura has the best chakra control out of all of ya. So, Sakura, come down here." Said girl complied and, when down on the ground, walked over to her sensei.

"What is it Naruto-sensei?"

"I thought that you deserved something for finishing this assignment so quickly." He paused as he saw that a smile was now on Sakura's face, reaching from ear to ear. "I'll teach you a more difficult method in increasing your chakra control. It is very similar to climbing trees, the difference is that you will be walking on water where you'll have to release different amount of chakra so that you don't fall in."

"Sasuke, Kiba, carry on with the training, and, if you should finish, then go to the bridge and help out there. I'm just going to take Sakura away for a while." And with that, the jounin and the pink-haired kunoichi left and made their way to a small lake they had passed by on the way to the center of the forest.

They stopped by that lake and Naruto began to explain the concepts of walking on water. When he was done, he applied chakra to his feet so that he could show the kunoichi. He took on step on the water and continued to walk a couple more steps until he stopped and turned around to face the female genin.

"Do you understand what I mean?"

It took a few seconds for her to reply as she had been staring at Naruto's feet. "Y-yes, I do."

"Good, then you'll practice this until you can do it or until you are fetched, alright?" He received a nod as Sakura had already begun, to apply chakra to her feet. Naruto just walked away to the bridge to do what they came here to do.

**

* * *

**

**I hope that you all enjoyed it and that the fight scene wasn't too bad. I personally thought that this was the best one that I have ever written, though that isn't really saying much as I kinda suck at writing fight scenes. I had to look up loads of sights to finally find one that would give me the real names of the jutsus instead of me just making them up as that would be a bit weird, and cheap, if you ask me. So yeah, that was it.**

**Until Next Time…**


	3. Mission In The Waves 2

**So sorry, but I did say that I wouldn't be able to update as often as I'd liked, but here is a new chapter… Also, I was having some difficulty with the fight scene (sorry if it isn't that good) and I was debating about the outcome of both Zabuza and Haku, so that is also why…**

**Also, (sorry if it seems like I'm just trying to make up excuses, but I'm not), I have been given, in the past 2 weeks, three history essays, spanish coursework, and English essay and plenty lesser preps, so I had to use most if not all of my time on them, and some more time watching the Naruto anime, love it by the way…**

**So, here it is, two weeks after the last chapter was posted...**

**Anyway, here's the third chapter, finally…**

* * *

A week had passed; both Kiba and Sasuke had completed their tree-climbing a few days ago as Sakura was able to stay on the water for a few minutes and managing to walk on it as well. Their sensei had also been building up their stamina by taking them out on long runs everyday, followed by a usual routine of push-up, press-ups, sit-ups and such. 

The three had often complained about this training that they had been receiving, as he hadn't really taught them anything yet, apart from the chakra control exercise, but Naruto had simply replied by saying that you must learnt to crawl before you can walk. They had asked him what he meant and he decided to just tell them what he had been trying to say; they needed to raise their physical level or else any other training would be pointless.

Naruto had decided to go outside to sleep this night, after everyone else had gone to bed. You see, he loved being outside, under the night sky, with the stars shining bright up there. It made him feel… calm and, in a way, at peace with everything around him. And tonight, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

A smile graced his lips.

He soon fell asleep; the only sound was an owl, echoing its call.

_**Next day…**_

Naruto lay in the same position which he had been in the night prior. He awoke when he heard some shuffling. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a smile, coming from a pale-faced girl who had long silky brown hair framing her porcelain face.

"You could catch a cold if you stay out here too long, you know." She said kindly.

Naruto smiled lazily. "Hn, I don't get ill." He replied matter-of-factly, but with kindness evident. He merely received a raised eyebrow.

As Naruto sat up, he inhaled a large amount of air through his nose, when he a caught a scent, a familiar one, one which he could remember clearly. And it was coming off of the girl. He decided to have some fun.

"So how is Zabuza?"

Her eyes widened immediately but they soon returned to their normal size. "So you figured it out, huh?" It wasn't as much of a question as it was a statement.

"It wasn't that hard, since you both have similar scents and you're a lot like that 'hunter-nin' who came to 'dispose' of him." He explained, whilst he emphasized on a few of the words he said. She just smiled back. "So why is it that you two work together, you don't seem like the type."

There was a long silence until she answered. "Tell, me, do you have a precious person?"

"Aye, I have plenty… So… I guess that Zabuza is yours then, huh?"

Again, she smiled.

"How did that happen?"

The smile vanished as a distant look dawned her face. "It's simple really… when I was little, I was all alone. I had no purpose, but Zabuza-sama; he gave me a purpose when he found me… so that is why he is my precious person… he wanted me when no-one else did."

"I can understand that, a little too well."

"Oh?"

"… Long story…"

She then stood up and was about to leave but was stopped when Naruto called out to her. "Why is it that you want Tazuna-san dead, I mean, he's annoying and all, but still, why is it that the two of you want this?"

She stayed where, she was, he back to Naruto. "We were hired to do so-…"

"I know that, but why did you take the offer?"

"Because… Zabuza-sama has a dream and I'll do anything to help him achieve that dream. And we need to do this in order to get a step closer to fulfilling his dream." She then started walking again until she was stopped, again, by the blond.

"I didn't get your name."

"Haku."

"Naruto." He replied as he let her go.

When she was gone, one thought went through his mind. _…I see… very interesting…_

_**Later that day…**_

Naruto had taken his team to the bridge, in order to protect Tazuna along with all of the other people at the bridge. He had left a pair of clones with Tsunami and Inari, which he had done everyday since they had arrived. He figured that Gatou was the type of guy who would do anything to get what he wanted, and seeing as he wanted Tazuna dead, he might go as far as taking hostages, which Naruto, of course, would have none of.

When they got to the bridge, they were all shocked by what they saw; all of the workers were lying down on the cold ground of the bridge, completely motionless.

"W-w-what happened here?" Tazuna whispered, quietly, pleadingly, hoping that what he saw wasn't real.

Suddenly, a mist came, thickening after every second until you could barely see a few meters in front.

"Zabuza." Naruto said, almost dangerously. "Everyone, gather around Tazuna-san and guard him. Do not leave that post unless I say so!" Immediately, Tazuna was surrounded by the three genins. Naruto was now in his stance, ready for anything to happen.

He tensed his arms and held his breath as he forced chakra into his arms, releasing the six blades between his knuckles. He let out a grunt, like he had done last time. He then heard Haku making her way towards the others.

"Sasuke! Take care of her!" He didn't need to elaborate as Sasuke knew what he meant. Sasuke jumped at Haku as the two began a one on one fight with only the use of taijutsu.

Meanwhile, Naruto was on the look out for any trace of Zabuza, but his search ended quickly as Zabuza spoke out.

"I believe we need a rematch, seeing as you caught me off guard the last time, but now, I now all about you."

"Oh do you now?" He said almost mockingly. "If that is true, then you shouldn't be able to stand as of right now."

"You're too arrogant for your own good kid."

"Let's just begin already. I really miss the good ol' ramen from Konoha, so I would really like to get back there are soon as possible." Yep, he got the desired affect, the annoyance of Zabuza.

"Alright punk." And they began.

Zabuza ran straight at him and lunged is sword straight towards the jounin's abdomen, but Naruto side stepped, though he still received a small cut on his arm as he hadn't been fast enough. He quickly got back in as he tried at a stab towards Zabuza's side which had been left open for a second, however, the nukenin was quick and dodged sending another blow with his fist towards Naruto's head, which he dodged and tried to parry it, but failed. The two jumped apart from each other, Zabuza placing his sword into its strap on his back.

Handseals were in progress for the two of them, Zabuza finishing first as he yelled out 'Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu' as a huge water dragon appeared from below the bridge. Naruto had just finished his as he in turn yelled 'Harem no Jutsu' as two dozen girls appear out of nowhere in a series of _poofs_, all of which surrounded Zabuza. The handseals had only been a distraction, trying to convince Zabuza that he was also going to do something big, therefore surprising him with this latest distraction.

Due to this distraction, Zabuza's attack failed and the water simply just fell down heavily on the bridge.

A smile adorned Naruto's face as he began another set of handseals, whilst he had Zabuza occupied, though he was a bit disappointed that no blood was seen coming from his nose, oh well.

Back with Sakura, Kiba and Tazuna, they were all staring wide eyed at the sixteen year old jounin after what he had just done. Sakura was mad at the disrespect for women he had just shown there, but then realised that it was used as a distraction, though she wasn't happy about it. Kiba was trying desperately to hold his laughter back, but chuckles and sorts could be heard escaping his mouth. He had NOT seen that coming, and though he didn't want to admit it, it was a nice jutsu. Tazuna, however, was just letting his slightly perverted side get the best of him, though he was also wandering why there was such a jutsu available to ninjas. Oh the mysteries.

When all of the female clones where gone, Naruto had just finished the last handseal, yelling out in a whisper 'Fūton: Renkūdan' as he inhaled as much air as possible, his cheeks blowing up like balloons before finally releasing it in the direction of Zabuza, who, unfortunately, dodged it at the last second.

Zabuza drew his sword as he made his way back over to Naruto, pissed now, and took a swipe, only to have it redirected by Naruto's blades. He took another one for the neck but Naruto simply ducked, placing both hands on the ground and kicked his right leg up and towards Zabuza's crotch, Zabuza simply jumping back slightly, sword in hand and aiming for a swipe down only to miss as Naruto jumped right through Zabuza's legs and delivering a punch to the nukenin's back, who gave off a low grunt.

The two jumped apart, twenty meters from the other. "Lucky hit, but that will not happen again." Zabuza commented.

A vein appeared on Naruto's forehead. "You know, you're exactly like Kiba!" He retorted, a few more emotions evident then he would have liked.

"You have a bit of a temper, don't you?"

"Oh I'll show you temper!" Naruto then closed his eyes, getting ready for the surge that was about to come.

Zabuza felt the surge as well and a chill ran up his back and down again. Suddenly red chakra started to flow around Naruto, growing and growing every second until it was tens of meters high and half as wide. It looked like a tornado of red energy was on the loose, and he was right in the center of it, still not moving with his eyes still closed. The huge amount of chakra could easily be heard, sounding like a tornado would have. After a few seconds, it died down, reducing it to a thin layer which covered the whole of the jounin.

Naruto then decided to open his eyes, showing off his now red and slitted eyes. He smirked when he saw the reaction he got from Zabuza, revealing his not fanged teeth. "How do you like me now?" He said playfully. His voice was also slightly deeper then his normal one. If you looked as his hands, you'd see that his nails had also become clawed; however, they went unnoticed as most of the attention was drawn to his blades. The were still long, bug not smooth or straight anymore, they were now a much darker colour, almost black, slightly tinted red, like they had come into contact with blood one too many times. They also seemed to look uneven, with dents and such in, almost suiting Naruto's more animalistic appearance. A couple small, yet extremely sharp, spikes stuck out at random intervals.

Naruto noticed Zabuza staring at them, slightly paler. "You like?" He didn't receive any answer, though he didn't expect any either.

Back with Haku and Sasuke, they had been fighting, still at it with their taijutsu, Sasuke was tiring quite quickly and it seemed that Haku had the upper hand, and you could tell that she wasn't really giving it her all. But their fight had stopped as soon as they had felt the power surge and immediately looked over to where it was coming from.

To say that was Sasuke would be an understatement, he had never seen anyone with this power, power which was so visible to the naked eye. The closest he had seen had been his brother, but that had been four years ago, on the night which he would never forget. However, he had no doubt that Itachi was much stronger now, so he couldn't out right compare them completely, so he settled for a draw between them.

Haku was now staring wide eyed at the teen as well, she was afraid for Zabuza, very afraid. She didn't want anything from happening to him, even if it meant giving up her own life, she would do that in a heartbeat, without a single second thought, let alone the first one.

Naruto let out a small, yet, deeper then usual chuckle. It was a bit nerve-racking to say the least. "Are you going to come to me or will I have to come to you? Hmm?..." He sounded like he was toying with the nukenin, and that freaked nearly everyone out.

Zabuza shook a little for less then a second before he gathered himself and stood up straight before his cold gaze settled on the blond, though his hair had grown slightly, becoming unruly as well as darkening a bit, but he couldn't tell whether his hair had changed or that the thin layer of red chakra surrounding him was causing the illusion.

The cut on Naruto's arm had also long ago healed and was now nothing more then its usual flawless tanned skin.

Zabuza blinked and Naruto was gone, leaving an outline of him with his red chakra. And before he knew it, he ha received an elbow in his stomach. He doubled over as he tried to relieve the pain and catch his breath. He looked up to see the sixteen year old, looking at him and smirking.

"You still want to go through with this?" Again, the playful tone was evident.

Deep down, Zabuza would have 'no', but that would show weakness and he would not get paid. But, it was clearly obvious that he was outmatched in skill. So he simply chose not to answer.

"Oh come on… what's wrong?... Cat gotya tongue? Or maybe Kiba has it, hm?"

Zabuza did NOT like the way Naruto was talking, talking down at him, that would simply not do; it was an insult to his pride.

Whilst Sasuke had been too occupied with his sensei's battle, he had failed to realise that a foot was heading for his head, though he did realise on contact, but it was too late then when he fell unconscious to the ground.

Haku straightened up as she ran over to her precious persons' side, taking on a defensive position.

"I have no intention of killing the two of you, no matter what it says in the bingo books. However, if you do try to carry out your own job, and try to get to Tazuna-san, then I will have no choice." The playfulness was gone, now it was emotionless and dull.

Zabuza narrowed his eyes at the teen in front of him, Haku only raising an eyebrow beneath her mask.

However, an echo of a chuckle broke the silence between the three as they all turned to see who was the source of the interruption.

"Well, well, well… It seems that the demon of the mist is not match for a bunch of brats. No matter, that'll only make my job a lot easier, seeing as you have been practically taken care of for me, and I didn't even have to pay for that." Gatou said amusingly.

Zabuza put two and two together and realised what the short business man was getting at. He realised that they were never going to be paid from the start and that didn't settle too well with the nukenin.

"Kid."

Naruto looked back to his former opponent, an eyebrow raised as a response.

"Let me have my fun with him and we call it truce." Naruto simply nodded as he took a step back and held an arm out towards Gatou, motioning for Zabuza to go ahead.

Zabuza smirked as he unstrapped his sword from its place on his back and made his way towards his ex-employer and his so called guards. Oh how he would enjoy this after the embarrassment he suffered whilst fighting the blond. Speaking of him, his appearance was now back to normal and he was sitting down on the ground, knees bent with his elbows resting on them whilst his head was resting on his palms.

Haku was standing as straight as a stick, completely motionless, watching the back of Zabuza as it got further away from her, until it was near the size of an ant.

As Zabuza reached the large crowd of body guards, the three nearest to the nukenin brought forth their weapons, but got no further as they had been cut down with a single swipe. This happened again and again, a path steering in a straight line towards Gatou. Said short person had begun to tremble as he noted that no matter how many he had to protect him, Zabuza was still coming closer and he had an idea of what he wanted, and he did not like it, not one bit.

Finally, though it didn't take that long, Zabuza had reached his target, with the rest of his obstacles running away for their lives, seeing as they finally figured out that they couldn't beat Zabuza.

Gatou was trembling so much that even a blind bat would be able to see it.

"Pl-please… Don't h-hurt me… I-I'll p-pay you… a hefty sum…" He pleaded, rather feebly if I might add.

Zabuza smirked. "It's a bit late for that now ain't it." And Gatou's head was gone, or rather, it was now rolling gently along the ground, blood spewing endlessly from the neck, or what was a neck until only a few seconds ago. The body soon fell down to the ground heavily.

"S'bout time." He added.

Naruto had watched it all with mild fascination before he decided to stand up and walk over to the fallen Uchiha. He checked his pulse and found it quite easily; afterwards, he gently picked him up and carried him bridal styled over to the other genins.

"Sasuke-kun!" Guess who.

Kiba would have been smiling at the fact that the rookie of the year was out and the fact that he was the only one out, that is, if he hadn't just witnessed what he just had. No expression could really be seen on his face, he had the expression of an Uchiha to put it blandly.

"Is Sasuke-kun going to be alright? Will he live? What happened to him?..." Naruto blocked out the rest of the questions which were coming out like word vomit, in a particularly high squeal, one which only Sakura could manage to let out.

"He's fine Sakura, no need to worry, he just needs his rest." She seemed to calm down.

"I'll take care of him." Naruto was about to protest, but Sakura butted in before he managed to. "No, don't worry; it won't be a hassle, besides, what are teammates for." She said, almost too cheerily, but Naruto knew what she was really thinking.

Naruto simply grumbled a quick 'yes' before he started to walk in the direction of Tazuna's house, with Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru and Tazuna following shortly afterwards. Haku and Zabuza stayed where they were, forgotten, until they decided to scram.

_**Back at Tazuna's house…**_

Sasuke had woken up a few hours after he had been placed in the bed he was currently in. He sat up to look around him, only to find the pink-haired kunoichi was sitting on a chair not that far away from him.

"Sasuke-kun!" She squealed.

Sasuke grunted as his ears hurt from the high pitch emitted from the mouth of Sakura. "A bit loud." He said in his usual monotonous voice.

"I'm sorry Sasuke-kun; I didn't mean to hurt your ears. Here, let me take a look at them." But before she got a chance, and with much appreciation from Sasuke, the door opened to reveal Naruto. He walked in and closed the door, stopping a foot or two away from Sasuke.

"Glad that you're up Sasuke." He said in his usual manner.

"Hn."

There was silence, until the person least expected, spoke up.

"What happened." Ok, so only two words came from Sasuke, but still, he had started the conversation out of his own free will.

"Well, Haku knocked you out. Then Gatou and his men turned up, Zabuza decided to let out some anger on all of them and after that was done, we all left, though I don't know what happened to either Haku or Zabuza. They probably went about their own business of something." Naruto explained. He received a nod from Sasuke.

Sasuke was angry, and slightly embarrassed about having been knocked out like that. He shouldn't have been the one unconscious; after all, he was an Uchiha and the Rookie of the year at the academy.

Naruto noticed this, though he could see that Sasuke was well trained at learning how to hide such thoughts or emotions. He had also trained how to read them, as he had been friends with one who was like Sasuke in many ways, so it was easy enough for him.

"You did really well Sasuke, I'm proud of you." He smiled before he carried on. "Haku was at an incredibly high ability and you managed to hold your own for a while, and the only reason you got knocked out was because I kinda distracted you in a way. Sorry about that."

Sakura had stars in her eyes; she loved him even more now.

Sasuke felt a bit better, but he also began to feel worse once he saw how Sakura was staring at him.

The door them opened again and in stepped the final member of their team, two of you count Akamaru.

"Naruto! I just remembered something!" He shouted as he entered the room.

"Hm?" Was Naruto's response.

"You said, and I quote, 'Cat gotya tongue? Or maybe Kiba has it'! What the hell was that supposed to mean?!"

Naruto simply smiled as he left the room.

A vein appeared on Kiba's forehead.

"Naruto! I was talking to you! Answer the question goddammit!" Kiba shouted as he left the room to follow his 'favourite' sensei.

"Sooo… Sasuke-kun. When you're healed and everything, would you like to go on a date with me once we're back in Konoha?" She asked as sweetly as she could with a gleam in her eye.

"No." Was his simple answer.

Her face faulted for a second before she was back to her happy self, thinking, _… You're so cool Sasuke-kun…_

_**One week later…**_

The five members of team seven were standing at the beginning of the now complete bridge, which was truly magnificent in its grand yet simplistic form. You see, it was time for them to leave Wave country and set off home again.

"Thank you… all of you… Without you, we would be nowhere… Thank you…" Tazuna said as kindly as he could, every word coming from the heart.

Naruto gave him and everyone else his infamous fox grin. "No problem." He replied.

There was a cry and Inari came rushing forth from the gathered crowd. He carried on running and jumped at Naruto, latching onto him. "Bye Naruto." He cried.

"See ya kid." Naruto replied whilst he ruffled Inari's hair through his hat, whilst thinking, _… Nice hat… Might get one myself… Nah, it wouldn't work with this hair…_ He then sweatdropped at himself as he realised that he sounded a bit girly.

Everyone else around him were staring at him, as it looked like he had just spaced out. Kiba then waved a hand in front of his sensei's face until he got a reaction.

"Sorry about that, I guess I kinda spaced out or something…"

"…'Or something'…" Kiba mimicked. Naruto's eye twitched.

"Anyway… I guess we should all get going now…" Naruto said as he began to walk across the bridge, shortly being followed by the rest of the team, all of them, with the exception of Sasuke, was waving back at everyone, shouting their goodbyes and such until they were completely out of sight.

A few days passed until they were back at Konoha. Naruto reported back to the Hokage, telling him about everything that had happened; ranging from the demon brothers, Zabuza & Haku and Gatou to Kiba being a pain in the back, causing a chuckle to come from the Hokage.

"Did you really have to place the Inuzuka on my team, it's bad enough with an arrogant brooder and a star-struck fangirl."

Again, the Hokage chuckled before he answered. "All of the teams were made so that they all were equal in skill and because of have Sasuke, who was the rookie of the year, you also get Kiba, who got the lowest result and then you got Sakura who's an average student."

"I guess… but he's still so disrespectful… I mean, common, no one's like that."

Sarutobi merely raised an eyebrow.

"I know but hey, I was only six, I didn't know any better. Besides, I wasn't as bad as him… was I?..." He waited for an answer, but none came. Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously, leaning slightly forward, to increase the message he was getting across.

"No… no of course not.

You were very charming back then." 

"Exactly… hey wait, what do you mean by back then? I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying…"

Sarutobi merely smiled. "No, of course. I would never dream of it."

"Good, now, anyway, I'm going to go and get some dango."

Once the door was shut, Sarutobi though to himself, _...dango... why dango?... It isn't the healtheist eay to forget memories Naruto, not at all..._

* * *

**Okay guys, I'm so sorry that it took so long, but, as I said, I have been like so major busy with school and stuff. But I managed a chapter here so I hope that you enjoyed it.**


	4. Deals, Weights and Dango

* * *

"Okay guys, that's enough for today. We'll continue training in two days time, same time, same place." Naruto announced to his team. 

He heard a number of groans coming from the three as they walked over to him. Even Sasuke was down and tired, not even bothering to hide it. As soon as the three were near enough to their sensei, they plopped down to the ground, Not caring that much for the pain they received on their behind, as the whole of their bodies hurt like hell, well, nearly.

"Naruto-sensei… Why do we… have to train like this?... You haven't even… taught us anything… yet." Sakura said in between breaths.

Naruto gave a small mocking smile. "You see, that's were you're wrong, and all of this training I'm giving you is necessary if you want to become great ninjas. You'll need all of the strength, stamina and speed that you've got, and to be honest, none of you were at that high of a level in any of those areas, Kiba being the furthest ahead, and not by much. Besides, what's the pint at being able to use a number of great jutsus if you aren't able to last that long in a fight? You see everything I do makes complete sense." He finished with a smirk.

There was silence for a few seconds before Naruto spoke again. "So I guess I'll see you three in two days time. See ya-…"

"Why aren't you going to train us tomorrow Naruto-sensei?" Sakura asked.

_Damn, and I nearly got away…_ "Well, you see, Sakura, I have some things that I need to do tomorrow…" He replied as he scratched the back of his head.

"What kinda things?" Kiba asked suspiciously. _Typical… _Naruto thought.

"It really isn't any of your business you know."

"So, just tell us!" Kiba demanded.

Naruto hesitated. "… You could say I'm going to meet up with a friend, I guess…" He said, a little unsure.

Kiba smirked as an idea popped into his head. "A girlfriend, I see! Though I do pity her…" He said as he had a finger placed on his chin.

A vein appeared on Naruto's forehead. "I'm not even meeting up with a female…"

Kiba's smile increased. "Oh, so you're gay!" He declared.

The vein on Naruto's forehead grew in size as another one also appeared. "No! And for your information, I am bi!" Naruto declared. He regretted saying those words as soon as they left his mouth. _Too late… There's nothing I can do about it now…_

Kiba raised an eyebrow, shocked at first, but then an evil smirk appeared on his face. "So, what are you going to do tomorrow if you're not meeting up with any of your 'friends'" Kiba said.

No answer…

Kiba raised another eyebrow.

Naruto didn't really want to tell them what he was doing tomorrow, so he quickly got an idea. "Hey, Kiba!"

"Yeah?"

"Are you by any chance, related to Hana?"

Kiba narrowed his eyes as he nodded slowly.

"I thought as much. You have the same eyes… and hair, though she looks after hers better then you do." He finished with a mocking smirk.

"How?... What are you?..." Kiba really didn't know what to say. _How the heck does he know Hana, oh he better tell me, or else he is going to pay…_

"How on earth do you know my sister?!" He shouted, obviously annoyed.

Naruto just smirked before he _poofed_ away.

Kiba growled and ran off home.

Sakura had just been sitting there, wide eyed after hearing her sensei declare that he was bi. She did not see that coming.

Sasuke didn't know whether to smirk or raise an eyebrow.

_**At the Inuzuka compound…**_

Kiba had quickly returned home in order to find his older sister. He searched throughout the house and found that she was not there so he decided to go search at the kennels, he was certain that she would be there.

Apon entering, he immediately found her feeing the dogs – _Typical of her…_

He ran straight towards her and stopped when he was besides her.

"Hey Kiba, what's up?" She asked like she would any other day.

"Don't 'what's up' me. How do you know Naruto?!" He demanded.

"Huh?... Do you mean Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yes!"

Hana let out a chuckle. "Of course I know him, we use to date."

At the mention of that last word, Kiba's jaw hit the ground. _He… She… They dated?!..._

Hana chuckled again. "What's wrong Kiba?"

"Y-y-you dated him?"

"Yeah… why's that so hard to believe?"

"Because… because he's and idiot! How could you date a guy like him?!"

"There's nothing wrong with him. In fact, he's very sweet and kind and we're still friends."

"Friends?!"

"Yes… How did you come to know Naruto anyway?"

"He's my sensei."

"Sensei you say… He's pretty young to be a sensei, but I guess he is strong enough…"

"Don't tell me you believe that he's of a jounin level."

"I don't-…"

"Oh thank Kami-…"

"He's much stronger."

"What?!" And with that, Kiba fainted and hit the floor, Hana's chuckling echoing through the kennels.

_**Next day…**_

Naruto had woken up earlier then usual that day, as he would need to get out before too many people were awake, besides, he couldn't keep him waiting.

He hurriedly ate his breakfast after a quick shower, which consisted of toast with bacon and a fruit salad, along with a glass of milk. He ran out of his house, naturally locking the door behind him.

He ran to the main gates, where he saw two chuunins, who were, in fact, a couple of his friends. He also knew that they were always on guard duty this time of the month, so that was why this time of the month was chosen.

"Hey there Kotetsu, Izumo!" Naruto greeted. "How are things going?"

Kotetsu looked up and smiled. "Naruto! Things are fine, if a little on the dull side, but then again, we can't complain, we could have been stuck with worse jobs."

"Yeah…" Izumo agreed. "So I guess it's that time of the month again, eh Naruto?"

Naruto gave them a small smile. "Yeah, but I gotta do what I gotta do. So I guess I'm off before he gets too agitated."

"Yeah, you better. We wouldn't want him to get angry, now would we?" Kotetsu agreed.

"See you later guys…" And Naruto was off.

He ran as fast as he could, heading in a straight line for a good two hours before he came to a stop. He was far enough from Konoha, and anywhere else for that matter. He stopped in a small clearing and sat down in the middle on it.

He took in a few deep breaths before he began to do some handseals, each one faster then the last until he had completed them.

In front of him, there was a large puff of smoke, and when it cleared, there, in front of him, stood a miniature version of Kyuubi, about the size of a large horse, with only one tail swishing around behind him. Naruto looked up and smiled a cheeky smile.

"You better get going and do what you want before I call you back in, Kyuubi-sama."

Kyuubi just scoffed. **"Whatever brat, I'm off. And don't you dare send me back early, or you'll be sorry when you go back to sleep tonight!"** The old demon threatened as he began to walk off into the forest.

Naruto just laughed quietly to himself. _He hasn't changed… Probably never will…_

You see, Naruto had made a deal with Kyuubi many years ago. Naruto would grant Kyuubi freedom for one day per month, permitting that he makes sure no humans see him and that he doesn't go on a killing spree. And in return, Naruto has constant access to the fox demon's power, along a contract which allows him to summon Kyuubi, though he had only had need to do so once in battle before, and only then ha he given him two tails worth of his own power. And on these days where he had his freedom, he would only be given one tails worth. Also, along with the deal, Naruto had to show the fox some respect, like calling him Kyuubi-sama and such.

Naruto didn't want to know what Kyuubi got up to on these days, as long as it didn't affect him. Instead, he would just wait in the area where Kyuubi was summoned until sunset when the fox would return again.

At first, it had only been once every ten weeks, but it had been changed to once a month, so as to appease the fox lord.

Naruto would also make this day his official day of rest, where he would just lay about and simply do nothing. Yep, he did enjoy these days.

Only a handful of people knew about what happened these days, and they consisted of; Sarutobi, Izumo, Kotetsu, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Iruka. Sarutobi for both official and personal reasons, Izumo and Kotetsu because they would always be guarding the gate at the time when he was to give Kyuubi his freedom, Kakashi because he was good friend of his, and they knew nearly everything there was to know about the other, Jiraiya because he had always been there for him, he had even helped him train when he was young, well, younger and Iruka because, truth be told, Naruto owed a lot to him, more then he did to anyone else, and there was also the fact that the two were close, brotherly close.

The day passed a bit too quickly if he had to be honest, but he knew that it had to be over sooner or later, so he might as well get it over and done with.

Naruto woke up abruptly after realising that he had nodded off. He sat up and looked around, eventually setting his gaze on the horizon. He noticed that the sun was nearly gone, and as if right on cue, Kyuubi showed up, emerging from the bushes.

Naruto looked over and inspected Kyuubi. He saw blood stains around his mouth and claws, and a large grin plastered on his face.

This was how he always looked like once he was done for the day. Naruto knew that it wasn't human blood and that the fox had just been out hunting and having a little fun, along with catching his own meals.

"Right on time as usual, Kyuubi-sama. Ready to go back now?"

"**Like I have a choice."** Naruto merely shrugged as he did a couple more handseals, when he finished the last one, there was a _poof_ and Kyuubi was gone, and was now situated in his usual residence.

The jutsu used by Naruto was also different then a normal summoning jutsu, as more chakra was needed, along with more handseals, set in a complicated order. There was also the fact that if and when Kyuubi was summoned in battle, he demanded a sacrifice, as he didn't want to be shown up by Manda, the snake boss, though Naruto and Kyuubi had agreed that it need not be a human one, but that it may be any animal which a fox would eat, such as a deer, or a couple smaller animals, like rabbits or squirrels.

Naruto smiled as he began to run back home again to rest in his bed, as these days also took quite a lot of chakra from him, but it was part of their deal, so there was no backing out.

He quickly reached the gates. It was now dark, but he still managed to see his two friends sitting by their post. He heard snoring and realised that one of them was asleep.

Naruto walked over to them and stopped by the desk. "Hey Izumo, I guess there wasn't enough excitement for Kotetsu to be able to hold out the whole day, huh?"

"You got that right Naruto…" Izumo replied as he began to wake up the sleeping chuunin by shaking his shoulders.

"Wha-what?... I'm up!" Kotetsu shouted as he jumped up off his seat, landing awkwardly on the earthy ground.

"… or down…" Naruto joked, earning laughter from both of the chuunins.

"Everything go okay?" Kotetsu asked as he sat back up on his chair, after dusting some dirt off of him.

"Yeah… Like you, I fell asleep, which reminds me, I better get back home and catch come sleep." He then began to walk off, waving a hand back at the two,

"Lazy jounin." Kotetsu grumbled playfully.

"Oi! I heard that." Naruto shouted back at him, even though he was nearly out of sight.

_**Next day…**_

The three genins of team seven were at their usual meeting spot; just outside training grounds sixteen. The were all looking at their watches, waiting for their senseu to arrive. In a matter of seconds he would be late.

"Three…"

"two…"

"One…"

"Hey guys, I'm glad that you could make it." Naruto said as he _poofed_ there just as the second hand reached twelve on their watches. He had made just in time, though he knew that he would, he always arrived just at the exact time.

Kiba he had been boiling up inside was about ready to explode. "Naruto!"

"Hm?... What is it Kiba?"

"How dare you date my sister!"

"Oh, so she told you, huh:"

"Yes she did!"

"And I hope that she also told you that we're not a couple anymore."

"Well, yes, but…"

"Then there is no problem, so let's get back to training, alright." Kiba grumbled back in response as he and his two teammates made their way over to the posts where they would begin with hits, punches and kicks, which they had been doing ever since they returned back from their mission in wave country.

"No, we won't be doing any of our usual routine today!" Naruto said as he saw his team turning and heading over there.

They all turned around expectantly, each of them raising an eyebrow. "Really?" All three said in unison.

"Nope, cos today I have a special present for you all." Sakura squealed in delight, Sasuke kept his eyebrow raised and Kiba jumped up whilst punching his hand up through the air.

"What kind of present?" Sakura asked innocently, though she was jumping for joy on the inside.

Naruto smiled as he revealed three packages wrapped in brown paper and tied with a piece of string. "Why don't you look and see." He said as he threw the three packages over to the three genin. Kiba and Sakura opened them quickly, ripping the paper whilst Sasuke unwrapped his slowly in his usual manner.

When they saw what was inside their packages, their smiles faded.

"W-what are these Naruto-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah! They look like some cheap wristbands and stuff!" Kiba backed up.

"Ah, those, my friends, are training weights."

"Training weights? What are they for."

"Well, as the name states, they are weights you use when you train. You see, if you train when wearing them, your body will get use to them and therefore get stronger. So when you take them off, you'll be at a whole new level, you'll be much faster and stronger along with the fact that your stamina will also increase."

Sasuke smiled, though it was a very small smile. _A whole new level you say… I could get use to this…_ He looked up his sensei and muttered a quiet "Thank you."

When Naruto heard this, he looked down questionably for a second before he smiled back. "No problem. Now, why don't you all put them on so that we can begin training." A groan came from two of his genins, whilst the last one began to put his on.

Naruto looked over and saw that Kiba was having some trouble with his weights, so Naruto walked over to him to help him.

"Here Kiba, let me help you with that." Kiba looked up and reluctantly accepted the help. "You see here Kiba, the smaller ones are for your wrists..." Naruto explained whilst he strapped them on. "… The medium ones are for your ankles while the largest one here, is meant to be strapped around your waist." He then finished as he strapped the waist weight on.

"Okay, you see these slots that are around the weights?" He received a nods all round. "Good, now, they are there so that you can increase the weight of them by adding extra weights. Right now, they all way about five kilograms, with your waist weight weighing nearer to ten kilograms, so you have a total of thirty kilograms on you." Naruto explained.

"Naruto-sensei, do you also wear weights?" Sakura asked.

"Well Sakura, in a way yea, but they're not the same as yours, though I do wear some weights."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a special seal on me which is called a gravity seal, which makes my body feel heavier then it would normally be. I can change the gravity level which is on me by applying more chakra to it."

"How come we don't just get a seal instead of these things?"

"Because they take a lot of chakra in both amounts and control to use, along with the fact that they can easily harm ones body if not used correctly. It also takes a long time to place them on your body, and you'll need a seals master to place them on you."

"Who did you get to place yours on you?"

"Jiraiya, the toad sannin."

This earned him a couple of raised eyebrows. Sasuke was pleased, his sensei was working them hard and he had good connections. This could prove to be very useful in the future.

"Anyway, lets get back to training. I want you all to run around Konoha for the whole of today, with your weights on of course. You will get three breaks; one at eleven, one at one thirty for half an hour so that you can have lunch and the last one at four. You will be dismissed at seven." Everyone groaned.

"Alright, get going before I make you put on more weights." The three were instantly gone.

Naruto smiled to himself. He had also wanted them to have weights so that he could use them against them as threats, like he had just done. Yep, life as a sensei could be very rewarding.

At lunch time, after he had had a couple of bowls of ramen from his favourite ramen stand, he had gone over to the dingo dango café to have, surprise surprise, dango.

He sat down at a table with a large plate of Chichi dango which had Mitarashi syrup on top. He was about to begin when he heard someone talk to him.

"Can I sit here?" Naruto looked up and saw a woman, shinobi by the looks of her attire, who had purple hair and a plate as large and full as the one which Naruto had. She also had Chichi dango with Mitarashi syrup on top of hers. "There isn't nay more room apart from that guy over there." She said as she pointed over to a man sitting in a corner, a small empty plate in front of him whilst his finger was busy in his nose.

Naruto cringed at the sight. "Yes, of course." She thanked him and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

The two then began to eat his and her respectable dango in silence, before the purple haired kunoichi spoke up. "So, what's your story?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said there."

"I asked you what your story was, I mean, only someone who has gone through something which they rather wouldn't would eat that much dango. I should know." She said as she pointed back down at her own plate.

"Long story, but you could say that I'm trying to get off pocky."

"That's not the real reason." She deadpanned.

"No, but the reason why I want to get off of pocky is…"

"Ah…"

"So… what's your story then?"

"I've been eating this stuff ever since I… ever since I came back from somewhere where I'd rather not go again."

"Understandable…" Naruto said as he swallowed his last piece. He stood up. "Your name's Anko right?"

"Yeah… How did you know that?... Should I know who you are?"

"No, not really… I'll see you around Anko." He waved her goodbye as he left the café.

Anko was curious as to who he was, he did seem vaguely familiar to her, so she decided that once she was finished here, she would go and ask her good ol' friend, Kurenai.

Half an hour passed before the genjutsu mistress was found.

"Hey Kurenai!" Anko shouted her greeting when she stood right behind her.

"Anko!... You don't have to be so loud you know. I can hear you perfectly well, though I don't know if I'll be able to for long if you keep on shouting like that." Anko just grinned.

"Yeah, well, I just came to ask you a question, that's all."

"Oh?... And what would that be?"

"Do you know who that kid is, the one with the blond hair and blue eyes, of jounin rank I believe. He has three weird markings on each cheek."

"Oh, do you mean Uzumaki, Naruto?"

Anko's eyes widened as She got a flashback.

_FLASHBACK…_

Anko was lying in a bed in the hospital. She had been there for a while after she had been left in Konoha by her former sensei, Orochimaru. She hadn't woken since she came, but she was fairing well, all things considered.

She groaned slightly as she opened her eyes only to be met with blinding white. She squeezed them shut, opting to open them slowly instead. When they were completely open, she looked around hesitantly before she realised where she was. She dubbed it safe and closed her eyes again, only to hear someone speaking.

"Oh, so you're awake?"

She turned to her right to where she heard the voice coming from. When she found the source, she saw a boy, younger then herself, lying down in the bed next to her own. The boy had beautiful blond hair and the most intriguing of blue eyes.

The boy was smiling for reasons unknown to her. He had bandages covering his cheeks along with his neck and chest, the rest being hidden beneath his blanket.

"W-who are you?" She asked quietly, her voice showing her nervousness.

"Oh me? My name's Uzumaki Naruto… So, what's yours?"

"… A-Anko…"

"Well, it's nice to meet you Anko."

The two lay there in silence, Anko looking around and observing the room which she was in until her gaze settled on a card which was standing on the table next to Naruto's bed. She could only just see the front, where she read the words, 'Get well soon'.

"W-who's your card from?" She asked wearily, though she now knew that he wouldn't harm her, even though he was years her junior, her being thirteen, and his age still undetermined by herself.

She saw that his smiled brightened. "It's from Tachi!" He declared, still grinning.

"W-who's Tachi?"

"His my friend, my best friend. You see, we just took the chuunin exams together, along with our teammate. Though I kinda overdid it in the last round, that's why I'm here."

"Oh…" She then realised what he just said. "The chuunin exams?"

"Yep."

She though he looked a bit too young to be in the chuunin exams, but she also knew that looks could be deceiving, she had learnt that the hard way.

"How old are you?"

"Eight, but I'll be nine in two months."

"E-eight?"

"Uh huh."

_END FLASHBACK…_

"Are you okay Anko? You kinda spaced out there you know."

"W-what?.. Oh yeah, I'm fine, just got caught up in my thoughts… So how do you know him anyway?"

"Well, I only met him a couple months ago when I was assigned as a sensei to a genin team. He was also there… He was assigned a team and he passed them."

"He's already a sensei? He's only…" She thought back to when she was in the hospital all those years ago and did the maths. "… like sixteen."

"Yeah, I know, but he's really talented."

"Thanks Kurenai, I think I got it now, so I'll be off, see ya."

"Wait."

"Yes?"

"Why did you want to know about him?"

"Cos I just ran into him at the dingo dango café and he knew my name, so I felt it only right if I knew his." And she was gone.

"I swear that woman gets crazier the longer I know her." Kurenai mused to herself.

* * *

**Okay guys, that's it for this chapter. Just to warn you all, I probably won't be able to update for a while, but who knows, I might get lucky, so yeah… Thanks for all the reviews, they make me so happy and they build up the urge for me to update…**


	5. Ballet, Confessions and Dates

**Okay then, here's the next chapter, enjoy…**

**Important: I'm aware that I said 'Tachi' instead of 'Itachi' in the last chapter, and that was completely intentional, as that was a nickname kind of thing…**

**Also, I'm sorry it took a week to update, but, as usual, school and teachers are slave drivers who enjoy tormenting us with prep and such, but here's a new chapter, and sorry if it's a bit short...**

* * *

The next day, Anko made her way to the dingo dango café as she did every day when she wasn't away on missions.

Once she had her plate full, she looked round the room and spotted the person whom she had been looking for. She walked over to him and cleared her throat to get his attention. When he looked up, she asked, "Can I sit here?"

"Sure thing."

And so she sat down. They began to eat their dango until Anko spoke. "So… Did you become a chuunin back then?"

Naruto looked up and smiled. "So you remember, eh?"

"Yes I do, Uzumaki Naruto."

He nodded his head in response.

"So… Did you?"

"Yep."

"Then when did you become a jounin, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Two years afterwards, when I was ten."

"You don't waste any time do you." She said playfully.

"I guess I don't but… I learnt that you should make the most of what you have so… I guess that I tried to get as far as I could get before anything was to happen."

"Makes sense… So why aren't you an ANBU yet?"

"I was once, when I was twelve… but… then I quit." His face saddened when he said that."

"Why? What happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. But… it's related to dango…" Anko understood. When the dango got involved, it was serious… well… for her anyways.

She then tried to change the subject. She then remembered Naruto's friend. "So… How's 'Tachi doing?" However, what she didn't expect was for Naruto's mood to fall even further down. She could see the hurt, the pain and the sadness in his eyes. She guessed that his friend had something to do with Naruto eating Dango and quitting the ANBU.

She then tried to change the subject for the second time. _Hmm… What now…_ "So, I heard that you have a genin team." She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that this was a safe topic. She looked up to see that he had a smile, a real smile on his face, and that look that he had in his eyes was also gone. _Thank Kami-sama…_

"Yeah, you heard right. Bunch of mismatches if you ask me. I got a Haruno fangirl, a revenge-obsessed Uchiha and Inuzuka with a huge ego."

Anko had a twitch in one of her eyes. Yep, that was definitely a bunch of odd ones. She pitied him slightly and, she was also envious as they would surely be amusing to have together.

Naruto noticed the look on Anko's face. "Very strange batch." He muttered right before he put his last piece of dango in his mouth.

Anko shook her head and also ate her last piece. They stood up at the same time, both of them waving to the other as they left to do whatever they were going to do.

_**Two weeks later…**_

In those two weeks; Naruto had increased everyone's weights; Sasuke now had a total of sixty kilograms on, all of his weights doubling in weight, while Kiba had a total of ninety on, his tripling. Sakura had forty-two on; seven on her wrists and ankles and fourteen on her waist. They were still carrying on with their laps of Konoha, two each morning with push-ups and the sort afterwards. All three of them had completed the water-walking exercise as well. All in all, they had progressed nicely where their physique was involved.

However, they were also getting impatient, as they hadn't been taught any ninjutsu or genjutsu. Also, Kiba had been trying and failing to get Naruto to tell him what the red chakra that Naruto used was and how he got it.

"Naruto!"

"Kiba, you do know that you should call me Naruto-sensei, right? Since I'm your superior and teacher, after all." Naruto informed the Inuzuka.

"Whatever. I have a question."

"No, Kiba, I'm not gonna tell you what my red chakra is."

"No, that's not what I want to know. I have a new question for you."

"Oh, then shoot."

"When did you get your claw things?"

"I got them when I was twelve, heading on thirteen."

"So is it an ANBU thing?"

"No… not really…"

"So that means that I can also get some of those, right?"

"I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you knew the reason as to why I got them…" Naruto replied, ending it with an almost whisper, like he was talking to himself."

Kiba raised an eyebrow at the obvious emotion on display. "So why d'you get 'em?"

Naruto smiled softly. "It doesn't matter… Anyway, they're not for you."

"What do you mean they aren't for me? They were practically made for me."

Naruto let out a long sigh… He had to tell him… "Kiba, when you have these, they are extremely painful to use, as they come out straight through your skin between your knuckles, and they also rip right through anything else in their path. You won't be able to heal them and therefore, it'll most likely render your arms useless. Besides, you need a lot of chakra control to be able to draw them correctly…"

Kiba put a finger in his chin in a thinking manner. "Then how come you can use them when you said that they would render ones arms useless?"

"Well, you could say that I have super healing abilities."

"Like a bloodline?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Alright, I give." He then ran over to carry on with his training exercises.

_I heard some kid call Kiba troublesome, and I couldn't agree more…_Naruto thought to himself. He leaned against a tree and watched his team train in front of him. They had come a long way, but they had even further to go. Kiba was physically the fittest of the group, he couldn't deny that, though he did know that that also came with the training and clan jutsus that the Inuzuka's had. Sasuke was above average for their age, which was to be expected seeing as he was also dubbed the rookie of the year. But Sakura… she was lagging behind a bit. He could see her struggling, but he could also see that she refused to give up, and he respected that, though he though that it also had something to do with her trying to impress Sasuke, but motivation was motivation, ne?

I had been thinking of what he should do with her, he knew that she would need a bit more attention then the others for now, just until she could catch up a bit.

"Hey, Sakura! Come over here for a second!" He shouted and said girl came running over to him, panting slightly, though she tried to hide it. She slumped down on the ground.

Naruto smiled at her as he bent down to her level. He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "Sakura…" He didn't know where to start. "… You know that you're behind the others, don't you." He said as kindly as he could, his voice soft.

She nodded and looked away, saddened that her sensei had also noticed.

"But, I can see that you're trying and that you're not giving up and that is very important, and not many are like that." She looked back up and smiled a small smile. Naruto smiled back. "You also have a good head on your shoulders… But… you need to catch up to the others…" She nodded on understanding. "Therefore, I have an idea." She looked at him, hopeful.

"I want you to take ballet lessons." He declared.

Sakura immediately face faulted into the ground and stayed there for a good few seconds. She then jumped up and began to yell. "Ballet Lesson! How on earth is that going to help Naruto-sensei?!" Naruto just smiled, he had a feeling that she would react like this.

"Sakura." He began, with his serious tone in play. "I know a lot of successful kunoichi who took ballet lessons to improve their body. Now, I know what you're thinking and I can see where you're coming from, but trust me on this. You'll benefit greatly from these lessons, especially if you wear your weights. You see, ballet will help you with your control over your body and give you an amazing sense of balance and to top that off, you will be able to move through moves smoothly, which will help you to show off your new skills." Sakura smiled, then her smile grew until she had stars in her eyes. _Hook… Liner… and Sinker…_

"So what do you say Sakura?" He asked, hopeful, though he had a pretty good feeling of what her answer would be.

"YES!" She shouted out loud.

"Glad to hear it… Listen, I know someone who knows someone who works at a dance center and she'll be able to get you in. Your classes will be in the evening, so they won't interfere with our training, if only a little, but you'll benefit more then you'll lose from it."

"Th-thank you sensei." She said and he could hear that she meant it, especially since she just called him sensei and not Naruto-sensei.

"No need to thank me, besides, I'm only trying to make sure that I have the best genin team out there. So I'm only doing it for myself." He teased and he knew that Sakura caught on as she laughed a little herself.

"Anyway, why don't you go and catch up to the others. I've held you up enough. Oh, and your first ballet lesson will begin in three days time, I'll tell you the address tomorrow."

"Okay Naruto-sensei." She said as she ran off towards the others.

Hours passed and he looked up at the sun in the sky, well, it was actually quite far down so he decided that it was time to end that days training. "Alright guys, that's enough for today, why don't you all head home?" Kiba nodded as he and Akamaru ran back in the direction of the Inuzuka compound. Sakura also ran back home, after being rejected by Sasuke for a date. Sasuke, however, stayed in place, like he was expecting something. Naruto though that was odd so he walked over to him.

"Is something wrong?" He asked simply.

Sasuke looked up at him, determination written all over his face. "Train me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Train you? What do you think I've been doing?"

"No, that's not what I mean. I want you to train me so that I can get stronger in order for me to succeed in reaching my ambition."

Naruto thought back to the day and remembered what Sasuke had said that day. Naruto's smile saddened, though it was still there. "Sasuke…" He paused for a few seconds. "… You need to learn that there is more to life then revenge."

"No, sensei, there isn't. My sole purpose is to avenge my clan."

"You're not an avenger Sasuke. You're a good, maybe even great shinobi whose heart is set on something which will ruin your life."

"I'm an avenger, and that is all I am."

"Sasuke, I understand the pain that you're-…"

Sasuke lost it. "No, sensei, you don't! You don't know what it's like! Knowing that you're the only one left after your brother, your own brother killed everyone you held dear to you. You don't know what the pain is like, so don't even pretend that you do!"

"Don't you _dare_ say that I don't know what it's like!"

"No-one knows what it's like!"

"Oh Sasuke, you are clearly mistaken. I know exactly what's its like!"

"How can you when you're always so happy! You don't know what it's like to loose _everything_ and _everyone_! You have no idea!"

"Oh yes I _do_! My life hasn't been an easy walk in the park! My life's been a living hell!"

"It won't compare to mine!"

"Is that right! I never even _knew _my family! My dad died before I was born, and my mum… my mum left me here in Konoha the day that I was born, never to come back again, and on that very same day, I was given a burden that I didn't ask for, one that would make people hate me for something that I had nothing to do with! But the sad thing is that… I'm proud of my mum!... Because she has helped so many other people, even though I have not _once_ met her in person! And to top that off, the one person that I let close, I mean, the one person I thought that I could trust my life with… He… He betrayed me the day he killed his clan! That's right Sasuke, I knew your brother, and I knew him so well! You could even say I loved him! I really did! I loved him so much!"

Sasuke's eyes widened at his senseis declaration. _He… He loved m-my brother…_ He didn't know what to think. He knew that Naruto wasn't lying, as all of his emotions were so clear and the emotions evident in his shout was also a clear indicator.

Naruto began to walk off in a huff, he couldn't believe that he had just lost it like that and just spilled everything out like that. He then slowed down, a tear decorating his cheek. "You're not the only one he betrayed Sasuke… He betrayed me too." He said in an almost whisper, but Sasuke heard it nonetheless. But before the Uchiha could react, his sensei was long gone.

_**Next day…**_

The three genins of team seven had been waiting at their usual meeting place for a good hour and there was still no sign of their sensei. Kiba was fuming and Akamaru was barking. Sakura also wasn't in that good a mood, but it did help that her sensei had been able to help her out with her problem the day before.

Sasuke, however, was in deep thought, his mind was in utter turmoil, it kept replaying the events that happened the previous day. _He loved him… But… I don't know… How can he act like he does… _He just didn't know what to do, but he had decided that morning that he would apologise, which would be a first in a while. However, that was proving to be a bit more difficult then he at first thought, seeing as Naruto wasn't even here yet.

"I don't get it! Where the heck is he?!" Kiba shouted to no-one in particular.

"Calm down Kiba, I'm sure he's just being kept up somewhere and that he'll get here any minute now… Yep… an-ny min-nute now…" She said, dragging out the last of her words. Truth was, she was beginning to get aggravated, but, she didn't want to show, especially not in front of Sasuke.

Another fifteen minute passed and there was still not sign of Naruto. "I think we should go look for him." Sakura finally said. The others nodded in agreement.

The three had spent two hours searching before they decided to look in the large woods which were at the borders of Konoha. They jumped from tree to tree to try and find some sort of sign of their sensei, but they found none.

However, they suddenly came to a clearing, one which did not look natural and new, by the look of it. It was a huge area, there were trees lying down on the grass free earth, along with branches and such in between. There were also many craters and dents and the whole place looked a mess.

They were all wondering what could have done this until something caught their eye. Up on a high branch, lay a sleeping figure. The three jumped up and landed on nearby branches to look at the sleeping figure and found it to be none other then they very own sensei.

Naruto stirred as he groggily sat up once he woke up. He used one arm to lean back on whilst the other hand was used to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around and noticed his team there, staring at him. "What are you…" He stopped as he realised why they were here.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot and I guess I must have over slept…"

"Um… Why is everything so…" Sakura began.

"… Muffed up?" Kiba finished.

Naruto then looked around sleepily and smiled cheekily.

"Well… I guess I got a bit carried away last night, eh?"

Sakura and Kiba laughed nervously, but Sasuke couldn't help but feel that all of this destruction was his fault. He even felt somewhat guilty, which was saying a lot for him. But before he could dwell anymore on it, Naruto had jumped and began to explain about what they would do that day.

When everyone was going about their own business, i.e. training, Sasuke walked over to Naruto. "Um, sensei?... I-…" But he was cut off before he could say anything else.

"Listen Sasuke, I'm sorry about losing it in front of you like that last night. I guess that it is still somewhat of a sensitive topic for me, even though it was years ago. I guess I probably won't ever get over it, but that's beside the point. I'm sorry okay? So let's just forget about yesterday and carry on as if it never happened, okay?"

Sasuke took a while to absorb everything before he nodded in agreement. He offered a barely visible smile, but a smile nonetheless, which Naruto did catch, smiling back in response. Sasuke then ran back over to carry on with the routine set for the day.

Naruto just leaned against a tree and thought to himself whilst watching his team train. _I really should learn to keep a straight face instead of losing it like I did… It would also save more trees from being on the other end of my fist…_ He chuckled lightly at his own thoughts.

_**One week later…**_

Naruto and Anko had been meeting up at the Dingo Dango café over the past three weeks whenever they both were free, which had been quite often considering that they were both busy shinobi. They would have their respected shares of dango and they would talk about whatever came to mind.

However, they both met up earlier then usual this day, as Anko had a mission later that day and Naruto had given his team the day off that day, though he didn't specify for what reasons.

They both sat at their now usual spot and began eating their dango, silent for once, an eerie silence about them. Anko looked up to see Naruto absentmindedly poking as random pieces of dango, placing the odd one in his mouth when he felt that it had been poked enough.

She didn't know what was wrong with the guy and frankly, it was quite annoying. She hoped that he would stop soon but he didn't, creating more frustration for her. She didn't know what to do with him.

Meanwhile, Naruto was too deep in though to actually think about or even acknowledge his tasty treat in front of him. You see, this day was a painful day for Naruto… and for Sasuke for that matter, which was why he had given his team the day off. He knew Sasuke would act differently and it would probably be hard for him, as it was on himself. He had even forgotten that Anko was there with him until her heard an over exaggerated 'Ahem!' which had quickly caught his attention.

He looked up, slightly drowsily. "I'm sorry what were you saying?"

Anko tapped a finger on her other arm as she stared at him. She was now also in deep thought. _What happened to him today… of maybe it was something that happened a while ago… perhaps this is some sort of anniversary… But… I don't know anything that could have happened on this day…_ She then tried to remember what the date was today and when she remembered, she tried to think of something that happened this day. _Hmm… I can't think of anything, except for the Uchiha massacre, but why would that affect him…_ The it hit her. When she had mentioned the guy named 'Tachi, it had obviously been a nickname…_ a nickname for Itachi… Today is the anniversary of the day Uchiha Itachi killed all of the Uchiha's', except for Sasuke… So that's why he let his team have the whole day off… It was for Sasuke… and himself perhaps… It all makes sense now… Though I don't like seeing him like this…_

"Eh Anko, are you there?" Naruto repeated as he waved a hand over Anko's face. Suddenly, she reacted and shook her head whilst Naruto let out a small sigh of relief, he had been getting worried about her.

"You okay Anko?"

"Wha- of yeah… I'm fine… Though, I was thinking…" She paused.

"That can't be good…" Naruto joked, seemingly out of his earlier bad mood.

Anko just smirked as she though of how to say what she wanted to say. "You know, Naruto… We've been meeting up with each other for a while, and we've had fun, right?"

"Yeah." Naruto replied, uncertain of where this was going.

"So… What would you say to us two going out on a date?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You mean like a 'date' date?"

"Yeah, unless you don't want to of course…"

Naruto smirked, raising his hand up to his chin in a thinking manner, looking up in the corner of his eyes. "I'd have to think about that…" He joked, his smirk then turned into a smile, looking straight into her eyes. "When and where?" was his simple reply, receiving a smile back from Anko, who was glad for three reasons; one being that Naruto's mood was lifted; two was her being the one able to lift it; and three, the two of them were going to go on a date.

* * *

**Okay, I know this is shorter then the other chapters and I'm sorry about that, but I wanted to end it here, as it would go better with the next chapter if it goes to plans… Sorry again…**


	6. Kiss, Affinity and Clothes

**Okay, here's a new chapter, but, before I begin, I would just like to show you a reply to one of the reviews I got. This will also be the answer to anyone out there who doesn't like yaoi and think that they have the right to outright insult me or such because of that. Also, this is copied word for word so some of it might sound weird.**

**Here it is:**

**0o0o0**

'**Listen, I'm sorry that you think that this fic is ruined, but the fact is, this is what is going to happen in this fic and if you don't like it, then I'm sorry, but it isn't my fault that you don't, there is no need to be mean about it. Also, in case you didn't notice, Naruto is going to go on a date with Anko (hello, straight pairing) and he said that he 'loved' Itachi (it is in the past tense so he doesn't love him anymore) This fic will be and will always be a NaruAnko fic, except there will be memories where he was with Itachi and they were young so the most intimate part of their relationship was a kiss and nothing more. Naruto will stay with Anko and if you don't like this, then I'm sorry, but I won't change this fic, it is staying as it is. I do know that there are many out there who don't like yaoi, I myself have nothing against it as you have probably guessed, but that doesn't mean that you have the right to tell me that I just killed, as you said, my own story just because it doesn't suit 'you'... If you don't like it then don't read it instead of telling me about 'your' problems, again, they're yours, not mine, so don't bug me with them.'**

'**Now, you could have taken the high road and simply said that yaoi isn't your taste and therefore you will not be continuing with reading my fic instead of just out right saying that I just made a mistake that will end the world, which it won't. So, if you have nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all.'**

**0o0o0**

**Okay… I'm sorry if any of you thought that it was long and boring to read, but this was a reply to a review and it will apply to anyone else out there who feel the same way…**

**Anyway, on a happier note, thank you all so much for the reviews (the nice ones). It is nice as an author (fanfiction only) to know that your writing is appreciated. Thank you all.**

**Also, I'm sorry that I haven't updated this in… over a month (that long, huh?), I kinda got stuck with homework and then I started to update 'Just One Smile' as I hadn't done that in a while and then I went away and had a blast… sorry to have had to keep you all waiting… I'm now back and somewhat inspired so I wrote a new chapter, which is right here.

* * *

**

Naruto and Anko were walking back from their first date together. They had gone out to eat and they had both found out that the other quite enjoyed pulling pranks, so they had spent a good few hours doing so, where many of their friends had become victims, Kakashi getting pranked twice. They both knew that they would be the culprits of it all, but they both thought that it was worth it in the end. It was nice to be doing one of their favourite pass times with someone which they liked.

The two were walking through the park, side by side with Anko smirking.

Why was she smirking? Well, it was quite simple actually. She could see Naruto out of the corner of her eye and she could see his hand twitching slightly and that he looked to be a bit nervous. She knew his intentions and she thought it sweet in a way, though she was getting a bit impatient with the waiting, so she decided to do something about it.

She let out a long sigh as she grabbed his hand in her own and held it tightly, though not too tightly, just perfectly in fact. He also let out a sigh of relief and turned to face Anko, with a sweet smile, as she dubbed it. She liked it, there was something there, it was kind and soft, yet it was cheeky and sly in a way. Yes, that smile had the essence of a fox in it, and she absolutely loved it, so she smiled back again.

Naruto, in turn, also adored Anko's smile. He noticed that when she smiled, she closed her eyes and they became to upside down 'U' shapes as her smile was wide and cheerful. He could get use to that, in fact, he already was, and it didn't take that long.

Now hand-in-hand, they were walking through the park, a half moon behind them.

After a few minutes, Anko suddenly let go of Naruto's hand and freed hers from his. He stopped and looked at her confused, well, he would have if she was facing him, as she was in fact walking away from him, towards a random tree, where she stopped, turned around to face Naruto and leaned her back against the tree.

The moonlight bathed over her and her eyes sparkled and Naruto saw the playful smile plastered on her face.

Everything was silent for a few seconds before Anko broke the silence.

"Well… aren't you gonna come over here and kiss me?" She said it almost teasingly.

Naruto grinned as he walked over to her. When he stopped, he was half a meter in front of her and he cocked his head to the side mischievously. "Hmm… I'm not quite sure…"

"I'm waiting…" She then fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously.

Naruto smirked as he leaned his head closer to hers, placing a hand against the bark of the tree, right next to her head, to steady him.

Their lips met softly, as they shared a slow tender kiss which they held for a few seconds.

Naruto broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes for a second before his gaze lowered and settled onto her lips, which were quickly met with his own again, except this time their kiss was harder and more lustful.

Anko wrapped her arms around his neck as one hand settled around to the front of his neck whilst the other began to fiddle with his soft platinum blond hair.

Naruto's free hand reached her hips as they began to slide upwards over her waste and up until it settled on her cheek, which he promptly began to caress.

Anko's grip tightened as she held Naruto closer to her, making their body touch, sending shivers of pleasure through the two of them.

Naruto, not being able to wait any longer, slid his tongue across Anko's bottom lip, before nipping it with his teeth, asking for entrance, which she quickly allowed without a second thought.

Naruto's tongue slid in and began to explore throughout her mouth, enjoying and soaking in her taste.

Anko willingly let out a moan of pleasure at the feel of his soft tongue. She began to fight back with her own tongue but Naruto still dominated the kiss, not that she was complaining.

Anko then began to hook her leg around Naruto's; sliding it slowly up and down, it's pace accelerating ever so slowly.

The kiss then deepened but it didn't last much longer as the two were running out of oxygen.

The kiss broke and Naruto promptly placed his forehead against hers once again. They looked into the other's eyes and almost got lost until Naruto noted the pink blush present on Anko's cheeks, and her face in general.

He also noted that he was slightly taller then her, despite the age gap of five years, her being the older of the two.

Naruto lowered his hand from her cheeks and wrapped it around her waist, along with his other one, pulling her into a hug, which she gladly returned. Naruto turned his head inward and inhaled the scent of her hair for a few seconds, Anko getting a slight shiver from the closeness of the two.

"You smell good…" Naruto quietly said out of thin air.

Anko let out a short amused giggle, which was rare for her. "You like?... I bought the shampoo especially for tonight."

"Mm hmm…" His reply was muffled by her hair, which smelled of a combination of lavender and jasmine.

Naruto brought up a hand and raked his fingers through her hair, stroking her scalp once over.

He slowly loosened his grip on her until they broke away from each other, except that they were holding hands again.

Naruto smiled softly at Anko before looking away, towards the direction of her apartment. The two began to walk in that direction.

They took their time, walking in a comfortable silence, both of them sneaking glances at the other and when they both looked at the same time, they would smile and look away again.

Within an hour, they had reached her apartment, which was a decent sized flat on the second floor, which was also the top floor of the building.

They stopped outside the main door.

"You want to come inside?" Anko asked softly.

"Not tonight Anko-chan, I have to get up early to meet up with my genin team in the morning… maybe another night." He then gave her a soft peck on the lips.

She looked at him in the eye, a thoughtful expression on her face. "So you're implying that-?..."

"-That I definitely think that we should go on another date together… soon."

Anko leaned her head closer, quietly saying, "Sounds good to me." Before giving him a peck on the lips, promptly releasing herself from his grip, digging her hand into one of the many pockets on her tan trench coat, in search of her house keys, all the while keeping eye contact with Naruto.

When she found them, she pulled them out and dangled them in the air, filling the hall with a jingle-like sound.

"I guess I better get going Anko-chan… I'll see you around." He smiled and waved at her, Anko doing the same, as he turned around and left, leaving Anko still standing in the hallway.

She quickly shook herself out of her daze, unlocked the door, walked in, locked the door and did whatever had to be done before going to bed, falling asleep with a small smile plastered on her face, Naruto doing the exact same thing once he reached his house.

_**One week later…**_

"3…"

"2…"

"1…"

"Morning team." Naruto shouted out as he walked towards the three genins without a second to spare.

"Good morning sensei." Sakura chimed. Her male teammates just grunted in response.

"Alright everyone, I have something to give you all, so gather around." Immediately all three people were sitting around him, Kiba being especially excited.

"Okay…" Naruto dug his hand into his pocket and when he found what he was looking for, pulled it out of his pocket. In his hand were six pieces of paper, three were about an A5 and white, whilst the other three were small and a cream colour. He passed the three larger pieces around to everyone. "I have nominated you all for the upcoming chuunin exams and all you have to do is to fill in these forms which I have given you all. You have a week to decide whether or not you'll be participating or not." Naruto then looked around to study the other's faces. He could tell that Kiba was getting cocky, probably thinking that he'd get promoted to chuunin like it was nothing.

"Before you make your decision, let me just tell you that the chuunin exams are very difficult and many genins have died during them, so if you have even the slightest hint of doubt, it would be best for you not to participate. However, I have been training you slightly differently from how other jounins train their genin teams, so I know that you are all strong enough to participate, but it also depends on your confidence in yourself. The choice is solely yours and no-one else can make it for you."

There was silence for a while before Naruto spoke again.

"Alright, I also have something else to give you." He passed the other three pieces of paper around."

"Ur, Naruto, what are these for? They're all blank." Kiba stated.

"These, Kiba, are used to find what affinity you have. Now…" He pulled out another one from his pocket. "I'll show you how it works, then I'll explain it all to you and then you can try."

Naruto focused some of his chakra into the paper. It split in half, whilst one half turned slightly soggy and the other got a few flames started, but not enough to burn the whole half. Naruto looked around at the others and saw that they were staring intently at the piece(s) of paper.

"Okay, since mine was cut in half first, that means I have an affinity for wind. However, because one half also turned slightly soggy, it means that I have a lesser affinity for water, along with fire since the other half combusted a little. Normally, ninja's only have one affinity, but jounin ranks and above can sometimes gain another affinity."

"Okay, to test out your affinity, you must concentrate some of your chakra into your piece of paper, and then we just have to see what happens. Also, if it crumbles, it means you have an affinity for lightning while if it turns to dust, you have an affinity for earth, understood? Good, now why don't you all have a go."

And so they did.

Sakura was the first to get as hers turned soggy.

Sasuke got it next and his erupted into flames.

Kiba got it soon after and his turned to dust.

"Alright, so that means that Sakura has an affinity for water types, Sasuke has one for fire types whilst Kiba has one for earth types. It's good to have a combination on a team. Now, there are two reasons as to why I tested to see which affinity you all had, one, I was curious and two, I'm going to teach you all a jutsu each which is in you affinity category. I'll give you each a scroll with it in and then you have this week to learn it before going to the chuunin exams, that is, if you decide to participate altogether."

He looked around again and nodded to himself, as his hand dug into another pocket, brining out three scrolls.

He gave the first one to Sasuke. "This contains everything that you need to know for 'Katon: Karyū Endan' (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile) which is a B-ranked jutsu. I know that you have all of your clan's C-ranked jutsus, so that is why I'm giving you a B-rank."

The next one was given to Kiba. "This one contains everything that you need to know for 'Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu' (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique) which is a C-rank. However, it is a very useful one. I know that your attacks are mainly offensive, which is why I have given you a defensive jutsu. Not many ninja know this one so consider yourself lucky."

"And finally Sakura, this scroll contains everything that you need to know about 'Suiton: Teppōdama' (Water Release: Gunshot) which, like Kiba's, is also a C-rank jutsu. However, unlike Kiba, you don't have that many offensive jutsus, which is why you have received this one."

"Okay everyone, keep these scrolls and you all have a week to learn them. There will otherwise be no training from me, but you may come to me if you need any help, alright? Good. See ya." And he disappeared in a _poof_.

"Hey! He clearly showed favouritism by giving Sasuke a higher rank jutsu then us!" Kiba complained as soon as Naruto was gone.

"Don't say that Kiba, Naruto-sensei treated us all equally because he gave you that defensive jutsu. He even said that not many people knew yours so that makes yours equally as good. Besides, it doesn't matter what rank a jutsu is, it all depends on how well you use it, like those E-ranked jutsus which we learnt at the academy. I read that they are still used by ninja who have even achieved the rank of ANBU."

"Yeah, but… his is still better…" He complained, again, but this time he used a more whinny voice.

"Okay Kiba, think of it this way; if you two ever end up sparring, and he uses that jutsu, you can use yours to dodge it."

Kiba thought for a minute before a smile grew across his face. "That's right! Because I got an awesome jutsu!" And with that he ran off, with Akamaru by his side.

Sakura slapped herself on the forehead for his stupidity. She then removed her hand and looked around her when her gaze landed on a particular person. A smile grew on her face as well.

"Oh Sasuke-kun, since we haven't got any training for a while, how's about we go on a date?" All the while saying this, she had been inching closer, stopping less then a meter away from him.

"No." And with that, he left as well, off the find a different training ground so that he could get to work on learning the new jutsus that he had been given.

Sakura let out a sigh as she looked at her watch to see what time it was. "I guess I'm off to ballet then." She declared as she began to walk off."

However, there had been someone else there, who had heard what Sakura had just said.

"Oi, Forehead-girl, don't tell me that you take ballet lessons; that's for children." The blond said as she emerged from the bushes.

Said pink-haired girl spun around to see who had spoken, though she knew who it was by the nickname. "Ino-pig, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see Sasuke-kun training, but he's obviously not here, you probably scared him off or something. Anyway, why are you taking ballet lessons anyway, shouldn't you be doing something better like training or something?"

"Trust me; I know what I'm doing."

"But why ballet?"

Sakura smiled sweetly and she leaned her head closer, so that he lips were near Ino's ear, like she was about to whisper something to her. "Se-cr-et." She chanted slowly, a vein appearing on Ino's forehead.

The vein disappeared as she smirked. "Oh I get it; you think that Sasuke-kun will fall for you if you can do ballet. I'm sorry to say this forehead-girl, but Sasuke-kun will never fall for you, for it is me that he truly desires, and even if he did like girls who did ballet, which he doesn't, he still wouldn't fall for you, so tough luck."

Now Sakura smirked. "That's not why I'm doing ballet, my purpose is much greater then that." And with that, she walked away, leaving a very confused Ino behind, all alone.

_**One week later…**_

Sasuke and Kiba, who was naturally with Akamaru as well, were both standing outside of the building where they were to go for the chuunin exams. They were waiting for their female teammate to arrive, though they thought it strange that she wasn't there yet, maybe she chickened out.

However, before they could think any further on that subject, said kunoichi arrived, though, there was something different about her, and neither of them could place their finger on it, until Kiba finally noticed.

"Hey Sakura, you changed your clothes." He declared.

Sakura looked down at her body and up again to meet Kiba's gaze. "Yep, I sure did." She now wore a red tank top (like in the Shippuuden), her usual black under-shorts, her usual blue shinobi sandals and she wore a midnight blue skirt which reached just below her knees, but had a slit on either side which reached to about the top of her hip (think two pieced of fabric, one of the front and one on the back which are attached by stitchings, this is made for movement). She had also put her hair up in a tight bun, with two bangs framing her face and her hitai-ite tied around her forehead. Her pouches and such were in their usual positions. She also had a scroll strapped to either thigh.

"Hey Sakura, what's with the new look?" Kiba asked.

"It gives me more freedom in my moves."

Kiba nodded in acceptance of the answer, which was the real reason as to why she had changed her attire.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes when he saw the scrolls. "Sakura."

She turned to him with stars in her eyes. "Yes, what is it Sasuke-kun?"

"Why do you have scrolls?"

"Oh… they have something which I may need sealed inside them."

"Which is?..."

"Se-cr-et… but I'll tell you if you agree to go on a date with me…"

"No."

"Oh…ok… anyway, should we go inside?"

The other two nodded so all three went inside.

**

* * *

I'm so, so, so sorry for not updating in like forever, but here it was and I hope that enjoyed it. Next up, the chuunin exams, WOO!**

**When I first came up with this fic (in my head), there were certain scenes which I just couldn't wait to write, like the scene between Sasuke and Naruto, where Naruto confesses his troubles (or whatever you want to call it) to Sasuke. Another one is the scene where Tsunade and Naruto meet for the first time, but that won't happen in a while… -sigh-… Oh well, that means that I have something to look forward to.**

**Until Next Time…**

**Again, so, so sorry about the delay, and kinda short chapter (compared to the first four chapters at least, long compared to my other fics)**


	7. The Beginning of the Chuunin Exams

**OH MY GOD!! It's been seven whole months since I last updated... I know that I say this a lot but I REALLY AM SORRY!! Please forgive me…**

**You see… I suffer from writers block very often, which is the main reason why updates are so patchy, when I update like crazy then I don't update at all whatsoever for an eternity…**

**It also happens that sometimes I have so much time that I can do what I want, and then other times where I can only barely manage to do all of my homework. I even spend my break times in the library in order to finish homeworks sometimes… Though that mainly happens on Fridays… not that you'd care about that…**

**I'm also very depressed at the moment, so if this chapter seems a bit odd in anyway, then blame that… Now, as to the reason why I'm depressed… Well, I got a new e-mail address, so I changed the one that I used on deviantART to my new one, but now I can't log on as the e-mail that needed to be sent hasn't been received by me and I can't use it whatsoever… I nearly cried, that's how upset I was…**

**Anyway…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, then it wouldn't be what it is today…**

* * *

Without having to meet with his genin team, Naruto was considerably bored. He couldn't visit Anko either as she was preparing for the second part of the exam.

He snickered slightly to himself about that. He wished he could be there to see all of their faces. He knew what she could be like, but that was one of the things he liked about her. She was individual and she wasn't a pushover; he knew that from personal experience as they'd also trained together, the pair of them.

At first, he hadn't been going all out on her, he didn't want to hurt her afterall. But she didn't take that too well and he… well… let's just say that he envied a turtle for the simply fact that they had a shell to hide in. Anko couldn't be downright scary when she wanted to be… which was why he didn't envy the chuunin candidates…

He smiled to himself, proud that his team had all chosen to enter the exams on their own accord. He didn't imagine that being a sensei could make one feel so good, he might take one another team when his current one had been promoted to higher status.

Maybe.

Or perhaps not. It probably wouldn't be the same.

_Grumble…_

Naruto blushed at the noise his stomach made, but he got the message loud and clear.

"Time to visit the old man…!" He said happily to himself as he jumped up onto the roof of a nearby building so that it would be easier to (and faster) to get to Ichiraku.

When he reached his destination, he sat down in his usual stool.

"Naruto!"

Said person looked up to find Ayame standing there in front of him, behind the counter, a big smile plastered on her face. He smiled back at her.

"I haven't seen you in ages… why haven't you visited us?" She pouted, looking hurt, though Naruto could easily see the amusement present in her eyes.

Naruto simply shrugged. "I guess I've been spending a lot of time training my genin team… and then any extra time I spend with Anko-chan…"

"Anko-_chan_?!..." She smiled and raised and eyebrow. "… Say… have you got yourself a new girlfriend?!" Which finished with a wink.

"… yeah…" He replied softly, having a far away look in his eyes.

But he was brought out of whatever he was thinking about by a loud squeal coming from the brunette. "AWW! That's so cute!"

Naruto blushed lightly, but Ayame caught it.

"Have I met her?" She asked, generally curious.

"Hmm… I don't think so, but she's got purple hair, up in a ponytail and always wears a tan trench coat… thank god…" The last bit was whispered to himself, but Ayame caught it nonetheless.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh… well… you see… she kind, well… she kinda has a very… individual… choice of clothing… It's kinda, well, revealing and the trench coat is the only thing covering her up properly…" Naruto blushed as he scratched the back of his head.

Ayame's eyes widened. "You're dating HER?!" Which was followed by her waving her arms round animatedly, which, surprisingly, Naruto managed to understand as her describing Anko.

"Hehe… yep!"

"…" Ayame blinked owlishly.

"What?... do I have something on my face?..."

"Oh… no, no you don't… I just didn't think that that was the type of person you'd go after… I mean… she's pretty of course, but…"

"'But' what?"

She giggle slightly. "I don't know, I guess you're just growing up, is all…"

Naruto's eye twitched, followed by a vein appearing on his forehead. "I'm not a kid you know… besides, you're only a year older them me! And I technically became an adult when I became a genin!"

"Calm down, would you. People are staring at you."

And indeed they were…

"Hehe… umm, sorry…"

"It's okay… so… what made you go for her and not me?"

"Ayame… you know that you're my sister… It'd be like… incest or something…"

Ayame ruffled Naruto's hair. "Yeah, I know kiddo!" She was gone as soon as that was said.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

_**Chuunin exams, room 301…**_

"Congratulations… you all pass." Ibiki declared after he had had his fun with torturing their minds. He applauded himself for getting rid of so many teams, though there were still 26 left over. But 26 out of 138 was pretty good. A lot of teams had entered this year, but that didn't mean that they were all ready.

_She should be coming soon…_ He thought to himself, grimacing as he wondered what would be broken this time.

He looked behind himself, looking at the desk which was there. It was new, the last one had… well… died, for a lack of better words. He mentally shivered. Anko was scary, and that meant a lot coming from him, considering who it was and what he did for a living. He just felt sorry for whatever sucker would end up with her.

_**At Ichiraku ramen…**_

"ACHOO!"

"I hope you're not coming down with a cold Naruto…" Ayame said.

"No… I don't get ill, so someone must be talking about me…" He deduced.

_**Back to room 301…**_

_Fue… fue... fue… SMASH!_

'_Of course… it just had to be the window, didn't it Anko…'_ Ibiki though to himself.

"ALRIGHT MAGGOTS! You've all got exactly 20 minutes until you have to meet me at training grounds 44 and if anyone of you are late, if even by a single second, then the whole of your team is disqualified!"

Protests were about to be set in motion, however, they were interrupted by Anko.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?! MOVE IT!"

Everyone was gone a second later.

Anko smiled to herself. She turned around when she heard some grumbling behind her.

"… just one… just one time where she doesn't break anything… but NO, that's never gonna happen…"

"Aww… lighten up Ibiki!" She glomped him. "I'm sure you secretly enjoy it… I know I do!"

"Sorry Anko… You're not my type."

He was promptly released. "I'm not your TYPE?! Well… I don't care; I already got myself a GREAT MAN!" She declared as she pumped her fist in the air.

"I feel sorry for him…"

"What was that?!"

"Nothing Anko… nothing at all…" _'poor guy… doesn't know what he got himself into… though, knowing Anko, he may not have had a choice… hmm… I saw her looking at that academy teacher a few times some months ago, maybe it's him… I hope it isn't for his sake… He's too soft to let her down…'_

"-lo… hello, anybody there?!"

"Wha-huh?!... Umm… shouldn't you be going to meet the genins?"

"Hmm… no, I think I'll make them wait and enjoy the… view of the forest…" She chuckled to herself at the thought.

"Umm… Okay, do whatever you like Anko…" _'as long as it doesn't involve me, that is…'_ He thought as he crept out of the room.

_**Ichiraku ramen…**_

"Mmm… that really hit the spot!" He said as he rubbed his belly.

"Well, you're always welcome Naruto, anytime!"

"Ahh…" He said as he stretched his arms above his head, only for his eyes to fly open when he felt something warm and soft on his lips.

"Hiya Naruto-kun!"

"Anko-chan… you scared me…"

"Hehe… well… I just couldn't resist, it was just too tempting to pass up!" She smiled.

"Umm… Anko-chan, not that I don't appreciate you being here, but, umm, aren't you supposed to be at the second part of the chuunin exams or something?"

"Well… yeah, but they can wait 'cause I wanna be here with you!" She said as she sat down on his lap. Naruto pecked her on the lips twice, his arms settling around her.

"But you can't just leave them there…"

She then feinted mock-hurt. "Aww… Nawuto-kun doesn't want Anko-chan here wiv 'im… He don't like Anko-chan…"

_Twitch_

"… How about I walk you there-…" The two were gone, all that was left of them was the payment for the ramen.

_**5 minutes later…**_

Hand in hand, Naruto and Anko made their way to training grounds 44. Two minutes earlier, they had been busy making out in an alleyway as Anko had claimed that she had missed Naruto terribly and that she couldn't remember what he tasted like so she had to find out. Naruto, being the ever lovable guy, couldn't refuse, even if the excuse reminded him of something Kakashi might come up with when he was with one of his many… umm… girlfriends?... Well… he'd never actually had a girlfriend, he'd simply had a lot of… experience in the field, as one might say.

Anyway…

Anko was having a GREAT day, and that was an understatement. She had just had a great make-out session with Naruto and now she got to torture all of the wannabe-chuunins for a WHOLE 5 days. And to top it all off, she'd just found a coupon for '3 for 2' at the dingo dango café in today's newspaper. She was most _definitely_ going there later on today… and a certain someone was going to accompany her.

They stopped when they could just about make out the genins in the distance. It was much easier to see the forest, as the trees were exceptionally huge.

Naruto placed a soft kiss on her lips before stepping back a few steps, the only like between them being the hands which were still clasped together.

"I'll be going now… and don't scare them too much, they're only kids."

"Hmph, says the one who took this exam when he was 8 years old… Honestly, they shouldn't be here if they can't handle it…"

"Okay then, just don't do something I wouldn't do…"

"But then I would be 'me', now would I?!"

Naruto began walking off, waving back at her as she stood there.

"I love you Anko" He shouted back at her.

She gasped…

'_He… he said that he… he said that he 'loves' me… oh… I should say it back…'_

"I LOVE YOU TOO NARUTO-KUN!"

_**Just outside training grounds 44…**_

"Where is that hag?!..." The boy grumbled as he paced back and forth's.

"Calm down Kiba, she's only… 20 minutes late… maybe this is part of the test or something… you know, to test our patients…" Sakura suggested.

"Hmm… YEAH! That's gotta be it… I knew that that was what was happening, I mean, you'd have to be an idiot not to…"

Sakura had to keep herself from punching Kiba for idiocy.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was sitting on the ground, ignoring his dog-like teammate and was thinking of the first and only jutsu that his sensei had given him. He'd been practicing the whole week except for the previous day as he had to make sure that he was in top shape for the chuunin exams. He's gotten it down on the fourth day of practice, but he'd only been able to produce two whole ones. He'd feel drained afterwards as well, which was why he'd visited his sensei and asked him for advice about expanding his chakra capacity.

He's, of course, been delighted help and was proud that Sasuke hadn't been to prideful to ask for help, which he would have been when the teams were first made.

He raised his wrist and looked at the runic seal that was there. It made it harder for the chakra to get around the body and made one have to work harder to do what would normally have been easy.

He'd had it on for the last three days and this morning he had released it, and he could feel the slight increase in his chakra stores.

He wondered if either of the other two had visited their sensei for extra help. _Sakura may have, but I'm sure that Kiba hasn't, he may have been tempted, but he wouldn't give in like that, he's too stubborn… Idiot…'_

"Oi Sasuke!"

He simply raised an eyebrow at Kiba, after being caught staring at the brown haired boy.

"You see something you like?!" The dog-love challenged.

"Sasuke-kun isn't gay Kiba!" Sakura shouted as she _'finally'_ bashed him on the head.

'_I guess one good think came of having fangirls… If someone annoys me, I could just send a herd of them at them, and I'd never see them again… But the cons far outweigh that single pro… hmm…'_

"Okay Brats! this is where you will all be taking the next part of the exam. This is training grounds 44, or more commonly known as; 'The forest of death'. Each group will receive either a heavens scroll or an earth scroll and you will have five days in which to obtain the one you need from another team, by any means necessary. This area has a ten kilometer radius and in the center is a tower, which you are to reach when you have one of each scrolls in your inventory. But before you can begin, you must sign these forms, which state that I cannot be held responsible for any of your deaths." Anko then crossed her arms and had a very pleased expression on her face as she saw that people were beginning to have doubts whether or not to continue.

She then laid her eyes on a brown haired kid who's left eye was twitching. _'hm… I wonder what's wrong with him?!...'_

Whilst his thoughts were; _'so this test wasn't about patients?! Why you old hag, I'll get you back for this!'_

Anko then noticed him giving her evils, so she decided to have some fun now that Naruto was gone.

She stealthily got out a kunai and through it at Kiba, the edge of the weapon grazing his cheek, drawing blood. He yelped in surprise. The next second, he found something soft and… squishy… pressed against his back along with hot breath on his neck. He shivered at the feel of it as he realised that the proctor wasn't where she was a few seconds ago.

He yelped again when he felt her lick _his _blood right off of _his_ cheek. He stood there, frozen, with his knees shaking.

"Mmm… It wasn't the best blood I've had, but it wasn't too bad I guess… for a mutt…"

Normally, Kiba would have retorted to something like that, but he was _way_ to scared to do that right now. Besides, he doubted that he couldn't even produce a sound from his mouth, let along a single coherent word.

Anko smiled deviously at the expression plastered on the genins face. She did this every year, and the reaction was always similar, yet the details always varied. This was why she always volunteered to be a proctor for this part of the exam.

Anko was too caught up to realise that someone was approaching her. She felt a tap on her back and immediately turned around to see that it was one of the grass-nins, holding her kunai with the persons outstretched tongue.

"Here you go."

"Um… Thanks…" Anko then took the slightly wet kunai and returned to where she left off. "Ok, the forms will be given round and when your team has signed them, line up so that you may enter the tent over there to hand them in and receive your teams scroll."

Ten minutes later and everyone was ready, standing outside their designated gates, waiting for the go-ahead and for the gates to open. Many were sweating with anticipation and anxiousness, but they were all to determined to quit.

"See you all in five days… hopefully. Now, BEGIN!" And the gates swung open and all of the teams disappeared into the forest.

* * *

**Wow… I feel better now, especially as I took a peak at the stats on my fics, and I found out the following.**

**Konoha's Scarlet Claw: **_**(hits) – 46797**_**, (alerts) – 375, **_**(faves) – 223**_**, (reviews) – 143 and **_**(C2s) - 60…**_

**This is probably my most popular fic, though Just One Smile isn't doing too badly either…**

**Just One Smile: **_**(hits) – 66646**_**, (alerts) – 197**_**, (faves) – 156**_**, (reviews) – 217 and **_**(C2s) - 32 …**_

**Thank you to everyone out there who has contributed to these stats!! I luv you all!**

**I'm sorry this is short, but I thought that that was a good place end it and this was all the time I had… Sorry not much happened, but I guess there was a but of character depth or something, righ?!**

_**IMPORTANT!**_** I won't be updating anything in a long, long time because I have GCSE exams coming up and they're mega important. It was only lucky that I found time for this…**

**05/05/2008**


	8. Aftermath of Love

**!SURPRISE!**

**Hello… I'm back, but I guess that you figured it out, huh?...**

**Anyway, I started writing this the day after the last update (06/05/08) and I've spent all of my free time either resting or writing this. But… I spent most of my time on revision… So there wasn't even that much free time to be honest…**

**BUT! I managed to write most of it today as I had to whole day free today and I just couldn't concentrate on my revision as I was thinking of this fic, so I decided to write this to ease my mind...**

**Umm… A reviewer stated that I should get a beta and I would, it's just that then it would be even longer before the next update and the wait is already long enough as it is. I personally prefer to have quick updates then updates which are grammatically correct and all that jazz, but posted at a later date…**

**But if there is anyone out there who would like to beta any of the existing chapters of any my fics, then just send me a message and you'll get the job. **

**Disclaimer: My name isn't Misashi Kishimoto so I obviously don't own Naruto…**

* * *

Naruto was walking back from training ground 44 after dropping off Anko there. He was whistling a happy tune whilst he had his arms crossed behind his neck when he suddenly stopped, eyes wide.

'_She… I… said… She said she l-loved me…'_

'_**It's times like these that I remember that your blond…'**_The demon muttered to himself, though he purposely said it loud enough for the jounin to hear it.

'_Bu-… I… urg…'_

Forgetting completely where he was previously heading, he ran straight back home, closed and locked the door and went up the stairs to his bedroom, throwing himself down on his bed.

He lay there, motionless, with his pillow held tightly in his arms. His whole body was tense.

Though he was happy, really, he was… He was sad as well, and even more scared, so much so that all happiness was forgotten.

His frame shook lightly, but no tears were shed, no matter how much they threatened to. He wouldn't cry. It had been over four years since that day. It should be forgotten, there was no reason why it should affect him now. He repeated this to himself, though he knew that it was no use. It didn't matter how it should be like, it just was.

'_Kami… I feel like a ten year old girl…'_ And he hated admitting it.

_**Jounin lounge in the tower in the forest of death…**_

Kakashi was having a good day. Heck, it was a day like any other, but he enjoyed routine, it made life so much easier. You knew what to predict and there were no surprises to interrupt the flow.

He was sitting in the lounge in the tower which all of the genins would reach… well… the ones who passed anyway, there were also the few unlucky who wouldn't make it to see another day, but that was life. Harsh, yes, but true.

However, something was off and he just couldn't point his finger on it. It made him uneasy and he didn't like that feeling. Something was going on and… grr… he couldn't for the life of him figure it out and it annoyed him to no ends.

This was why he couldn't focus on his book, even if looked like he was reading it to anyone who didn't know him well enough. He had been on the same page for a good while now and that was just not acceptable!

WHAM!

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the door which had unceremoniously been slammed open and shut within a millisecond. He looked up to find the proctor of the second exam, one Mitarashi Anko.

She seemed a bit… cheerier then usual, he supposed. Heck, she was always smiling and goofing around, but it was easy to see that the smiles didn't always reach her eyes.

However, today it seemed like it did, and the pure happiness looked genuine. So much so that it looked like she would burst any second from the overdose of it. Hmm… now that he though about it, she had been a lot happier the last few months for some reason. He was sure he knew, but… he was too lazy to even try to remember.

Damn it… why couldn't it just have been a normal day, it would be so much easier and not as much effort was needed.

'_What the-…!'_ Did he just hear what he thought he heard. Was Anko… _humming_?! And something… _girly_?! Something was off here. He looked across the room and checked the calendar.

Okay then, it wasn't the 1st of April, so it wasn't April fools… But… what then could it be?!

"Umm… Anko-san?... Are you alright?"

"Hmhmhmm- oh wha-?... oh… you day something Kakashi?!"

'_Stuck in her own little dream world…'_

"I was just wondering if something was bothering you… You seem a bit off today, if you don't mind me saying so."

"I'm just super-duper extraordinary happy!" She finished this off with a giggle whilst a sweatdrop made itself known on Kakashi's forehead.

"Umm… right… um, care to elaborate?"

She literally glided along the floor and slid onto the couch with such elegance that he would have never believed it had he not seen it with his own eye… his sharingan was covered up.

She then let out a gentle sigh.

Kakashi was beginning to sweat, something was obviously amiss and for it to have affect Anko in such a way it must have been something big.

At his awaiting raised eyebrow, she simply answered "My boyfriend…" and left it at that like it was the answer to all the world's problems.

Kakashi thought for a second and remembered that Naruto was her boyfriend. He didn't know what he saw in her but to be honest, he shouldn't say anything as he himself had habits which people didn't understand, though Naruto did. He really took the saying 'underneath the underneath' to heart, which made him proud to call him friend.

He looked again at Anko, and he could literally see hearts in her eyes. He mentally face-palmed. That look reminded him of one of Naruto's fangirls. Yes, he had those, a whole club of them to be precise. But he knew how to avoid them. But that just made them more persistent. He'd tried the nice guy approach, by telling them that he was flattered that they admired him but then gently turned them down, saying that he wasn't ready for another relationship or that he wasn't interested in them like they were him. But that just made them love him more.

But when he started going out with that Inuzuka –Hana, he remembered– she was able to get them to back of her boyfriend at the time, though ex- now. He believed that they were still friends.

Looking at Anko, he realised that Naruto liked the kinda girl or was different from the normal girl; one who would spend hours doing their hair and make-up and what not. He didn't go for that type. And he couldn't blame him…

If he counted correctly, Anko would be Naruto's 6th girlfriend and their relationship would –so far– be Naruto's second longest, with his and Hana's being the longest of 8 months.

He really should find a hobby, rather then pondering on Naruto's love life. How did he even get to this topic in the first place? Oh right… Anko's strange behaviour.

Anyway, point is he'd seen that look before. Two of his girlfriends had also had that look, and when that happened, their relationship ended shortly, though Naruto was very kind about it.

He pitied Anko now it seemed that their relationship wouldn't last much longer. Naruto had been scared about getting in too deeply with someone for understanding reasons. At first, he had been adamant with even going on a date, but Iruka had been there to help him all the way through, even going on a double date with him.

He had improved a lot, but he still desperately tried to avoid getting too involved in fear of a repeat happening.

But he could understand others falling for Naruto, I mean come on, he's great guy with a good heart and good looks, not that he thought of him in that way. He liked women, thank you very much. But he was just saying.

Young love is so complicated; was his resulting though. Not that he was old or anything, far from it in fact. He was only 26, in his prime for Kami's sake. He had many admirers. _'Though, it's been a while since I met up with a woman…'_

He shook his head. He didn't want to think about that right now. He still had the Anko problem. He shuddered as he imagined what she would be like once Naruto and her were through. He saw two possible outcomes:

1- depression, she'd wine and cry and act like a four year old who didn't get a cookie when they wanted one, or

2- she would be angry and/or mad, and even more sadistic then she already was, which was an incredibly scary thought. And knowing here, she wouldn't be afraid to vent some of it on him.

_Damn it…_

Okay, so he had to be optimistic. Maybe… perhaps… there was the slightest chance that she would be the one to end it… Or not, she looked too happy.

Or they might come to an agreement or something similar.

He hoped so.

He looked over to Anko again, to find her staring out of the window, with a dreamy look on her face which he's never seen there before. It didn't fit as well as it might have on a more… girly women, but it suited her. He smiled slightly. She looked good with the light from the sun shining on her face and glistening off of her hair.

'_No!... Bad Kakashi, she's Naruto's girlfriend, she's off boundaries!...'_ He shook his head slightly.

He idly wondered whether or not he should warn her about what would most likely be happening soon.

"Um, Anko-san-…"

"Oh it's wonderful Kakashi, just wonderful…" _'Damn it, now it's going to be harder to warn her…'_

"I feel like such a girl when I think about him, and at first I was scares as hell 'cause I don't wanna be a sissy, but then I started to accept it, ya' know?" She then promptly sat up and leaned forward so that her elbows were on her knees and her head resting in her palms.

"At first, it was kinda cool, ya' know, 'cause we got to know each other before anything and he didn't just go after me 'cause of these…" She pushed her breasts up to prove her point "… and it was nice meeting someone who would treat you like a friend, but be more then that, but now…" A pleasant sigh escaped her lips.

"But now… we're so much more… I… I love him…"

Kakashi's one visible eye bulged out of his eye socket for a millisecond when he heard that. _'Poor thing…'_

"And do you know what else Kakashi… he said he loved me too!" She fell backwards and landed with her back on the back of the couch, sighing dreamily.

'_H-he said that?!... That's a first… I was getting worried there for a second… But… he's never said that to ANYONE before, so why now… maybe… maybe he's finally found someone who he can let in all the way… I mean, it was fine at first seeing as he had friends, but he does need someone who he can trust not only with his life, but his heart too… Hehe… I'm pretty good at this deep stuff…'_ He then giggled slightly to himself.

'_I wonder how he feels at the moment… I mean, saying that you love someone is quite a large step in a relationship, last time he-… oh Kami… last time… Itachi… He… If Naruto's thinking of that now, then… he needs someone… Anko… no, she's the proctor of the second exam… She can't go, besides, she doesn't quite know what happened. I need Iruka, I'm no good at this stuff, that's Iruka's department…'_

"Umm… urr… I gotta go Anko-san!" And he sped off.

"Wha-… oh… IT WAS NICE TALKING TO YOU KAKASHI! THANKS FOR LISTENING!" She bellowed after him as she flung herself back down on the couch.

_**Academy…**_

"… alright class, your test results have most definitely improved, however, they are still not high enough, so there'll be another test next week on Monday so study hard during the weekend to improve your grades. And if they still aren't high enough, then you'll continue to be tested on the same subject until your score is good enough, then we'll move on after that. However, today we'll be-…"

"IRUKA!" was heard being shouted from outside the door in the hallway somewhere. The door slammed open and there stood a nervous looking Kakashi.

"W-what's wrong Kakashi?!" Iruka asked, alarm easily noticeable in his voice.

"It's Naruto…"

Iruka's eyes widened when he heard that. Though he didn't know what was wrong, he knew it was bad by the way Kakashi looked. He was about to run out the door when he remembered he had a class going on at the moment.

"Umm… Why don't you all go home and do questions 11 to 43 on page 96. I'll be collecting these tomorrow so I expect them done!" And with that he ran out the door in the direction of Naruto's house which, unfortunately was on the opposite side of Konoha.

_**Heading towards Naruto's apartment…**_

Iruka was running as fast as he could across the rooftops with Kakashi by his side and was running at the same pace as him, though Iruka knew that he could run much faster then this.

"What's wrong Kakashi?... What's going on with Naruto?!" Kakashi could hear how frantic Iruka sounded about Naruto, and he couldn't blame him, Iruka and Naruto were close, very close, like, brotherly-close. Iruka had been the one who helped Naruto four years ago. Everyone had tried, but it was Iruka who had succeeded.

"I'm not sure if he's ok or not, I mean, I haven't seen him, but I just have this feeling that something is amiss… I was talking to Anko not too long ago and she said that she loved him…" After Iruka nodded to confirm that he had taken in everything so far, Kakashi continued.

"But… Naruto told her that he loved her, which is great that he found someone, but I'm worried. He's been scared of relationships and… I don't know if he's fine or if he… I don't know…" He admitted.

"It's okay… It's better to be safe then sorry…"

A few minutes later they reached the door to Naruto's large white house. They knocked, and when no-one came, they tried to open the door but found that it was locked.

Kakashi jumped up onto one of the window sills and peered in. There was no-one in the study.

He carried on looking through each window until he landed by the one which was the bedroom window. He looked him and saw a blond mop of hair sticking out on the other side of the bed.

"He's in the bedroom, Iruka!" He called down.

Iruka hurried over to the flowerpot which hung near the kitchen window and collected the set keys which had been expertly hidden in there. They had placed them there should there be an emergency where they needed to enter and the door was locked. This was one of those times.

He found the right key out of the eight of so keys that hung on the loop.

He pushed it into the lock and opened the door, running inside with Kakashi not far behind him as they ran up the stairs, towards Naruto's bedroom. They stopped outside to calm their breathing and relax for a second before Iruka tentatively knocked on the door. He heard a slight shuffle, but nothing indicated a response to the knock, so he gently opened the door, pushing it ajar slowly and peeked his head inside.

He saw Naruto huddled in the corner with what looked like a pillow and a blanket, facing the wall. Had the moment not been serious, he would have awed and taken a picture.

He sometimes had to remind himself that he was still a sixteen year old boy… teen. He was mature for his age, yes, but still sixteen.

He pushed the door slowly open and began to walk gently towards Naruto with small soft steps. Kakashi remained in the hall as he knew that he wasn't a comfort sort of person.

"Naruto…?" Iruka called softly.

Said person's head rose from its hiding place in the comforting pillow. His eyes glistened with unshed tears and his cheeks were red. He was hunched over in a foetal position, much like a child would when they were scared.

He smiled a sad smile up at his elder brother-like-figure, though he wouldn't meet him in the eye.

Iruka then bent down and scooped Naruto into his arms and just sat there for a while, holding Naruto close to him. He would occasionally rock backwards and forwards whenever Naruto would begin to tense in order to calm himself down.

He knew that Naruto had slight autophobia; the fear of being alone, which made the fact that he was also scared to trust someone with more then just his life. No matter what people might say, Naruto was a very fragile person. He may be physically strong, which he was, but he was weak when it came to the matter of the heart and friends. He had to work hard to make friends, even though he was a very likeable person, it was just that he couldn't just let anybody in. He had improved… a lot. But he was still hurting.

"You wanna talk about it?..." Iruka finally asked after sitting there for Kami knows how long.

After a while, Naruto said, "I… I don't know… I'm just being silly, it's just that… that… well…"

"Shh, it's okay Naruto-nii… you know you can trust me. I'm always here for you and you can tell me anything. Even if just to listen to you." Naruto squeezed slightly in response.

"Anko… she-we…"

"I know what happened Naruto… and I know that you're scared as well… I understand Naruto…"

"But I shouldn't be scared 'Ruka… Anko… she hasn't done anything wrong to me, she's always just been herself and we got along great." His voice was soft and quiet, very different from how it would usually sound. "She's been very good and I feel so bad for even thinking that she… that she… she would…"

"Shh… don't think about that now. And you're right, she hasn't done anything to make you think that she would even do something like what _he_ did…"

"But that's just it… he didn't show any signs of doing something like that, and he did it anyway! B-but Anko… Urg, I feel like such a girl!" He then hid his face in Iruka's shirt as he trembled slightly.

Iruka placed his hand on Naruto's head and began to stroke it through his hair in a very soothing and calming way, which made naruto purr slightly, which earned him a chuckle from Kakashi who was still standing in the hall, completely forgotten by the other two.

"Come and join in, Kakashi…" Iruka half asked, half ordered.

Said person stood there for a few seconds, but eventually walked over to them once he saw the look in Iruka's eyes. He didn't want to make him mad. Even though he was only a chuunin, he could be downright scary if provoked, and Kakashi knew from personal experience. He didn't want to delve into that, nope, not at all.

He –reluctantly– joined in the hug, though with less enthusiasm as Iruka. He parted after two seconds, having had enough of the awkward (for him at least) hug. The other two may like to be hugged and whatnot, but Kakashi liked his personal space a lot and he liked to keep it to himself.

Kakashi left, though Iruka nor Naruto bothered to stop him as they knew where he was heading; Ichiraku ramen. He was going to go and order a take away so that the three of them could eat it at Naruto's house.

It was once again silent until Naruto spoke. "He… I guess I'm just acting like a stupid kid, huh 'Ruka…"

"No! No, you're not… Naruto, you're only sixteen and you need to act like it every once in a while, it's not good for you to keep it all bottled up. You need to let it out, and better here with me or Kakashi… or Anko, rather then out on a mission…"

"Thanks… 'Ruka… Thank you…"

Iruka proceeded to ruffle Naruto's blond locks, flicking the braid slightly.

"You should trust Anko, Naruto… I think that's she's earned your trust and I'm sure you've earned hers as well. You two look good together… Much better then that last one, what was her name?... umm, Naomi was it?... I don't know what you saw in her…"

"Me neither… I guess I was just trying out someone different… which didn't really work."

"RAMEN!" Two heads turned to see Kakashi standing there with a couple boxes of takeaway ramen. The two laughed as they stood up and made their way downstairs to the dining-room, Naruto staring at a dusty old mahogany door before he entered the dining-room and took as seat with the other two.

* * *

**Phew!... This is longer then the last chapter, though not as long as they averagely would be for this fic… **

**It's a bit of a filler chapter, I know, but I felt that I needed to do a bit of character development and that this needed to be written after the confession from last chapter. **

**Sorry for the OCness, but that's how they turned out in this fic and there's nothing that you can do about it! HA! **

**I don't think that this was that well written but I did try… I really did, and with the pressure of the exams, it was a bit hard, but I prevailed! **

**I hope it wasn't a let down or anything…**

**CHOW!**

**IMPORTANT: NEXT UPDATE WILL BE AGES AWAY, UNLESS ANOTHER DAY LIKE TODAY OCCURS!!**


	9. A Crack in the Shell

**GAH! Bad news; I'd written three new chapters for this fic whilst I was away, but… I can't find them. They've disappeared, along with the first 8 chapters for KSC, though luckily I can just copy and paste them from FF… So I lost the mood to write them for about a week and now I'm going to try to re-write them, but I don't really remember how they went as I usually just have a basic plan on how a chapter's going to go and make up everything else that happens…**

**But here's CHAPTER NINE!! WOO!**

**Lots of people have been curious about Naruto and Itachi, so you'll be happy since a bit will be revealed in this chapter…**

**Disclaimer: Okay, there's this awesome manga/anime called Naruto, right?... well, I don't own it… understood?!**

It had been two days since the confession between Naruto and Anko, and they hadn't seen each other since then. This was whyAnko was currently still sitting in the same jounin lounge in the tower which was situated in the forest. Also the place where she'd talked to Kakashi… two days ago… She hadn't moved apart from when she had to. Or when she was in the mood for dango.

If someone were to look at her now, then they'd find it hard to believe that she'd been in high spirits two days ago as her face was now plastered with a sour pout. The angry tick mark on her forehead wasn't helping either. Not to mention the dozens of ripped packets surrounding her, all of which had previously contained dango.

It couldn't be helped. Absolutely _nothing_ interesting or good had happened since the confession and she had neither seen hide nor hair of her boyfriend. Not even her good ol' friend Kurenai who had a flipping genin team currently out in the forest of death. There were only so many places a person could hide in the tower. All jounin senseis had to be in the tower…

She'd seen every single sensei… apart from Kurenai…

Damn her!

She'd wanted to tell her the great news and had been excited to do so, but no-_oo_-o, Kurenai just had to be impossible to find.

She was supposed to be her best friend, damn it!

She hadn't seen Naruto _either_, but she just couldn't be mad at him, especially after their confession.

Anko stuck her tongue out and did a raspberry but stopped when she heard some coughing coming from her right.

She promptly turned to see who had dared to interrupt her moping with her tongue still stuck out, only to accidentally bite it as her eyes landed on a certain blond.

Said blond couldn't help but snicker at the sight as Anko, along with the tongue out of her mouth, was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, along with her arms crossed in front of her and her chest puffed out in a huff. The large, confused eyes didn't help either.

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't know I was interrupting y-HEY!"

Though Naruto wasn't one to boast, he would say that he was an awesome ninja. He'd been trained well, had exceeded expectations, had set records and had flown straight through the ranks. But he had most definitely _not_ seen Anko jump up from her position and fly straight at him. He didn't even notice until his head hit the floor… hard.

But he couldn't be mad at her. He was busy trying to breathe as Anko was currently nuzzling him in his chest. She had her arms wrapped tightly around him and had he not known her, he would have thought that she was trying to rub her cheek off on his chest. Oh, wait, now it looked like she was trying to rub her nose off on him.

"I'm glad to see you too Anko-chan, but urr… would you mind getting off of me? Not that you're heavy or anything. It's just that I don't think that the floor is that comfortable." A nervous laugh came quickly afterwards.

Within a second, Anko had gotten up _and_ pulled Naruto up with her.

Now Naruto was scared, but after he noticed the room full of empty dango containers and packets, he guessed she was just high on dango. And that happened quite often, so he guessed he should be use to it by now.

"Where have you _been_?!" Anko moaned. "I couldn't find you anywhere… and Kurenai wasn't anywhere _either_! I had _no-one_!" This was followed by waterfalls of crocodile tears.

Naruto could only mentally curse the dango as he gently patted Anko's back in a comforting way. "There, there… It's alright… I'm here now."

As if his comforting had worked, she stood up straight with absolutely no signs of her crying only a second earlier and with a questioning look on her face, staring at Naruto.

"Where _have_ you been anyway? All jounin senseis are required to stay at the tower, but you weren't here at all. I checked this morning, and you weren't here then either, so you must have just arrived."

"Hehe… well, after I said that I l-lo… -ved you… well I-"

"What are you saying Naruto-kun?" Naruto could hear that her voiced was laced thick with worry and perhaps a bit of… fear? Her eyes matched her voice too.

"Do you regret that you-…"

"NO! Of course that I don't regret it, it's just…"

"Well… If you don't regret it, then what's wrong?..." Anko's voice, though still thick with worry, was now also confused and no longer held a hint of fear.

"It's just that… when I said it, it just came out so easily."

"What's wrong with that? When you love someone, it's meant to be easy to tell them that you love them…" Her voice was now more confused then worried. She just didn't get what was wrong.

"It scared me. I-I've never been able to say that to anyone since last time I-" Naruto's eyes widened as he quickly slapped his hand over his mouth, but it was already too late.

"Last time? What do you mean last time? What happened?..."

Naruto bit his bottom lip gently as he slowly sat down on the couch. Anko could tell that he was uncomfortable by the way that he sat with his legs pressed firmly together, his back was tense and slightly hunched forward and she could see that his fingers were twitching as well. If that didn't give it away then the look in his eyes would.

She sat down next to him as closely as she could and placed an arm round his shoulders and her other hand on his cheeks as she gentle turned his head so that they were facing each other.

"Naruto… what… what happened?" This wasn't the Naruto she knew. He was always chipper and happy, always smiling. Or when he wasn't smiling he was either on a mission or angry… mostly at Kiba. But she'd never seen him looks so utterly sad and scared. He looked lost.

Naruto was lost. He'd never told anyone about what had happened. The people who knew were the ones who had helped him recover; helped put him back on track and encouraged him whilst he was in rehab. That included a grand total of four people. Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Kakashi… and Iruka. Naruto's lip twitched slightly upwards as he thought of the chuunin. He was the one who helped him the most; the one who get him started.

But he'd never told anyone before. He… he didn't know if he could. He was too scared to even think about, afraid that he may end up where he had been four years ago.

But when he looked at Anko's eyes, he saw nothing but love. Okay, well there was also worry, but that was beside the point. She really cared for him. Maybe… maybe he could try.

"I…" Anko was startled when Naruto began to speak, but she said nothing. Naruto had also turned away from her, and was currently staring at the floor as he twiddled his fingers through each other. "… I once said it to a-another… four years ago. H-he…" Naruto took a deep breath to steady himself before he continued again. "You see, Itachi and I… w-we… We met when we began at the academy together. I was five and he was s-six…"

Naruto eyes had taken on a far off look, as if he was back in the past, reliving the moments he was talking about.

Anko wasn't shocked to hear that it was a guy he was talking about, Naruto had told her how he was bi, and even if he hadn't, she wouldn't be that shocked since homosexuality was quite common in ninja villages, though not so much in normal civilian villages. But she couldn't stop her eyes from widening when he mentioned Itachi. _The_ Itachi. The Itachi who massacred the whole Uchiha clan bar Sasuke.

Shit.

She could see that whatever had happened had most definitely _not_ been all that great. And if it had happened four years ago, then it was the same year as the massacre.

"I was put into the academy a year earlier then the rest. The Sandaime wanted to get me started early so that I could defend myself better since the orphanage…" He trailed off slightly as his thoughts turned his early childhood. A bitter smile made itself known on his face. "The other kids there didn't like that and began to bully me. I ignored it all and trained hard, read and did everything that was expected… along with extra credit. That all just made it worse. They all hated me for it... their parents had also told them about certain… occupants…" Naruto placed a hand on his stomach where the seal was. "… all of them hated me… except for one. He couldn't care less. He was quiet and didn't mingle with the others. Itachi had always been like that. He was the top of the class, so he had all the girls swooning after him, even the older ones as he was a protégé."

"But one day, when he had to spar in pairs, the two of us we paired off together. Itachi always won his spars, so it was only natural for everyone to assume that he would win against me. But… he didn't. It was a tie. He was more skilled then me, everyone could see that, but I never gave up, whenever I was down I got straight back up again and battled twice as hard. I got a lot of hits in too…" A small fond, yet sad, smile made its way across Naruto's face.

"Something changed in his eyes. He'd accepted my existence. Th-that was the first time anyone near my age had done that." Tears had suddenly begun to pour down Naruto's face. Not just trickles, but endless rivers. Naruto raised a fist to try and dry some away but it was useless as many more came running down. He felt a comforting squeeze on his shoulder as Anko tried to comfort him, but it didn't bring him out of it. His eyes, though now glistening with more tears, still had that far off glaze.

"From then on, he saw me as a rival. And he, in turn, became mine. We trained harder, worked harder and did everything to best the other and before we knew it, we'd been moved up two years. Throughout that, we didn't notice how far behind we'd left our classmates. But we still carried on trying to best the other. Our rivalry… it had turned into friendship. He'd become m-my first f-friend."

"I was so happy." His knees had now been drawn up and he was hugging them close to his chest.

"We spent all of our time together, whether it was training, eating and just hanging out, we were inseparable. Because of this, we graduated after only one year in the academy, making him seven and myself six. We were placed on the same genin team along with another genin who passed at the same time at us. She was twelve, the normal age of a rookie genin. We had great teamwork, though she didn't want to stick around when we weren't training or doing missions, but that was completely fine with us. After two years, we entered the chuunin exams and all three of us became chuunins. That was also the time I met Iruka. He was also taking part in the chuunin exams at the same time as we were. He was sixteen then. My… my second friend."

Naruto turned his attention to Anko for the first time since he began talking, his eyes glistening with tears yet to come. His eyes were warm and a bit… goofy when he spoke the next sentence.

"That was also when we first met… in the hospital." Anko smiled at him, which seemed to make him continue talking. He looked away again as he continued.

"We did everything together. We did all of our chuunin duties together, even stayed with the other for guard duty. Two years later, we were set to take the jounin exams. They were harder then the chuunins, and it felt so strange in the jounin exams are taken individually rather then in pairs. This meant that we were apart for three two months. We'd never been apart from each other that long before. And you know the saying 'Distance makes the heart grow fonder'… Well, that was certainly true for us. Nothing could break us apart. We did everything together and for Konoha. That… that was our nindo."

"But we didn't become jounins… no, instead, we were asked to join the ANBU trainee program, where they would train us until they saw us fit to become fully fledged ANBU. This cut us off from everything else, but we still had each other. We started to become even more… we…" Anko could tell that Naruto was struggling to find the right words, but she stayed silent so as not to disturb Naruto. She knew that it was hard for Naruto to retell and relive this, but she felt honoured and… happy that he trusted her enough to tell her this.

**(WARNING! Naruto will go on to talk about the start of their relationship and such… Only minor yaoi, and in the past tense. Other information is also here, so it is advised that you read it or it will be missed.)**

"There was… more physical contact between us. Just simple things like… encouraging hugs, pats on the back, a comforting hand… just… simple… little… touches. We didn't see it coming, we didn't notice where this was going. But… one day… we were just hanging out and we were laughing about something silly… until we noticed how close our faces were and all laughter stopped… Time seemed to stop and… we… we kissed…"

Anko had no idea how she was supposed to feel at the moment, but she'd wait until later to think about it. But it scared her how emotionless Naruto's eyes were at the moment. They were completely blank. His posture was loose, but no emotion was shown now.

"It was… it wasn't perfect or anything… far from it, but… it triggered something… We didn't talk about it for days but then it… happened again… whilst we were on a mission… After the mission was complete we… talked about it. And we decided to try it out. It felt right. After a few months, things progressed… We decided to… we decided to become… we were then officially dating."

"We would hold hands, hug and sometimes kiss… Neither of us were one hundred percent sure of how things were done, but we just did what we wanted… After half a year together we were officially ANBU. Half a year later, Itachi was made an ANBU captain. They'd wanted to make me one too, but I refused to be separated from Itachi, so I became his second-in-command… We were the youngest ANBU there, Itachi being thirteen and myself being twelve."

**(Yaoi finished!)**

Naruto paused for a few minutes and Anko could feel him shaking slightly, so she hugged him tighter then she had been previously.

"Everything had been going so well. Nothing was wrong… But one day… I noticed that something was wrong with Itachi. Most people wouldn't have noticed it, but I knew him. I really knew him, so I could see that something was bothering him. I asked him what was wrong and he denied anything being wrong. I knew he was lying... The next morning I found out that his cousin had been found dead in a river, so I assumed that had been why Itachi had been a bit off. But three days later, he… he… his clan… he just… and they were…"

"Shh… calm down it's alright…" Naruto had been hysterical at the end of it and Anko knew that he was talking about the Uchiha clan massacre. Naruto was clinging onto her like a lifeline, afraid to let go.

A few minutes passed where nothing was said, and the only sounds made were Naruto's cries and Anko's gentle shh's.

"He just… left." Naruto stated. It sounded empty.

"Everything just… ended… He had been everything that I had… My life… My constant. For 6 years we had been inseparable and then he just… leaves… He didn't even say anything to me… or even see me… He was just… gone…"

"My whole world had just been destroyed. I'd lost everything… I didn't know what to do…"

"That's why… that's why I got so scared… because all of these emotions which I've kept dormant for four years have resurfaced… and I'm truly terrified. I've literally been scarred for life… in more ways then one." Naruto let his eyes fall to his hands which he clenched and then unclenched.

Anko furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She picked up Naruto's hands and placed them on her cheeks.

"What's wrong with your hands?"

Naruto gently pulled his hands away so that they were far enough away from her not to harm her.

He clenched his fists again, this time sending a small amount of chakra there as well, and his blades came shooting straight out from in between his knuckles. Naruto just stared at them with an impassive interest. In a bland voice, he stated, much like one would the weather, "I was going to use these… to kill myself…"

**There you go… 3,000 words…**

**SORRY for the long wait… I'm a failure as an author. But I was away for the last 6 weeks, so I couldn't post anything then.**

**Also, I've been changing the plot a lot. I won't be changing what I've got posted so far, as it won't be affected. But it's what will happen in… four years time in my fics which has changed dramatically. Some twists will be ensured and happier with it as well. It's got a better sense of direction. I'm more into the fic now again, so that's good. But I'm going back to school in two weeks and I have a lot of homework to do so I don't know when I'll post next…**


	10. EXTRA

**I'm back! I'm in such a great mood as I just got my results for my GCSEs! (Important exams here in the UK) and I just HAD to write a wee lil chapter… I'm just simply so giddy!**

**In case anyone is interested, I got the following grades:**

**Additional Science: A star**

**Art: A star**

**Biology: B**

**English Language: B**

**English Literature: B**

**History: A**

**Latin: B**

**Mathematics: A star**

**Science: A star**

**Spanish: C**

**Total: 4 A, 1 A, 4 B, 1 C with an A3 points, A2 and a B1, that makes 18 points, and I only needed 10 to get in! Umm… and an 'A star' is like an A+ if anyone is confused…**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not my creation, I simply use it for my own amusement… and yours hopefully as well…**

* * *

"Yo-you… you WHAT?!" Anko all but shrieked. She couldn't believe what she just heard. He was going to… he was going to kill himself. She suddenly found her heart beating hard against her chest at the thought of it. She could hardly breath.

But… he said that he _was_ going to kill himself, which meant that he didn't go through with it. Or something had interrupted him. But… what?… or who?

"Na… Naruto…" She didn't know how she was supposed to react to this. It… this was a completely different side of Naruto, she'd never had guessed that he'd been like that. It was… unbelievable to say the least.

Meanwhile, Naruto had turned to look at Anko to see her reaction, but her eyes looked completely empty, and her posture was stiff whilst she was shaking slightly as well. After retracting his claws, he gently took Anko's hands into his own, and was surprised to find that the had gone cold, as they were usually warm and soothing.

After a while, she locked her eyes with his, and Naruto could see that she didn't quite understand something, so he waited until she could talk.

A few minutes passed before she spoke.

"What… you said… you said that you… _were_ going to ki-ki… yourself… why?... what happened to… change your… what stopped you from...?"

Naruto smiled softly at her before he answered. "I was lucky enough to have a friend as great as Iruka… who was always there for me…"

Anko suddenly understood why Iruka and Naruto were so close now. She'd always wondered as she could tell that Iruka had such a large soft spot for the blond, but it all made sense to her now. Iruka had literally saved Naruto's life.

But she could tell that there was still a lot which Naruto hadn't told her yet, but she could also see that he wouldn't reveal anymore of what had happened, but she was okay with that. He'd completely trusted her, and with that, she knew – she just knew – that this would make them closer, that what they had was important to the both of them.

A grin which literally split Anko's face in two made itself known in her face before she launched herself at him with all her might, making him fall back on his back on the couch with her on top, smothering his face with butterfly kisses.

Naruto was… baffled. He didn't know what brought this on, but who was he to complain. He liked the attention.

After a few moments of more butterfly kisses, Anko finally stopped, ending it with a long peck on his lips. She laughed when she saw the expression on his face. It was quite comical. He looked like a confused kid.

'_So cute…' _

"You okay Naruto?" She asked.

Naruto blinked before he slowly nodded, as if her was weary of Anko.

Anko giggled before she jumped up and began to drag him out of the room.

"W-where are you taking me Anko-chan?" He asked, generally confused.

"I'm starving, so we're going to get some dango!"

Naruto looked around the room in disbelief. He knew that his love for both ramen and dango was unhealthy, but her obsession made his look like he despised the foods.

Naruto smiled.

'_That's Anko for you…!"_

* * *

**And that's a rap. This was just my little way of celebrating the good news. I'm not sure when I'll next update though…**

**I know it's short, so please, don't say anything about that. This was just a lil extra bit on the side from the last chapter…**


	11. WARNING!

I'm having problems with my laptop. It's got a virus which has partially been removed. I can't e-mail, post new chapters here on FF or post anything on deviantARt... I'm so sorry, I hope you all understand. I've written a new chapter for Konoha's Scarlet Claw and I shall post that as soon as I can. 


	12. M' and Prelims no1

**Hehe... Umm… I snuck out and went to an internet café so that I could post this. I probably won't do that again seeing as I got in trouble, but I really wanted to post this, so I hope you enjoy it…**

**Anyway, I was having a bit of difficulty choosing who should be fighting who in the prelims as I didn't want it to follow the manga/anime… Then there were the fight scenes to take care of.**

**As you all know, I'm not very good at writing fight scenes, which is another reason this took a while. I also rewrote this about 5 times as I've gotten new plot ideas and I couldn't decide which one to go with, but I'm happy with the one which I've chosen.**

**Disclaimer: The closest I am to owning Naruto is owning a few of the manga volumes… Nothing more, nothing less…**

* * *

Three days had passed and it would soon be the end of the second exam. So far, 5 teams had made it to end with both scrolls, one of them even beating the old record – the only team remaining from the village hidden in the sand.

But there was one team which Naruto just _knew_ should have passed by now, but they had to be seen.

Naruto knew his team was capable of at least making it passed the second round, he'd been toughening them up through the months in which he had been their sensei. They had the strength, stamina, intelligence and determination to get through.

So why were they still missing?

He had been pacing back and forth for the last hour and a half. People who walked past could tell that he was both nervous and worried. He didn't try to hide it.

He knew that the chuunin exams were dangerous, genin _died_ in the exams for Kami's sake! But… but that didn't mean that his team… would. Would they?...

No, he shouldn't doubt them. He needed to have faith in his team, if he didn't, then who would?

They would be fine. They were just a little… belated. Yes, that was it. They were probably just taking their time getting to the tour… or decided that they rather enjoyed being in the forest.

He growled in frustration.

That didn't make sense.

But he was worried.

There was no denying it.

Near the beginning of the exams, three bodies had been found outside of the forest with their faces missing. And that was a rather disturbing thought. It meant that there was someone in the exam who shouldn't be there, someone who was too powerful to be a genin-nearly-chuunin.

But there were twenty-five other teams out there, so what were the odds that _his_ team would run into them?... Only four percent, so why should he worry.

Naruto jumped when he heard a bell ring.

He paled.

That was the bell that signified the end of the second exam. _No…_

He jumped again when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around only to come face-to-face with his girlfriend who had an insane grin on her face.

"Looks like your brats just made it on time. They only had two minutes to spare."

As soon as she said that, he let out a long sigh of relief. _They made it… thank Kami they made… See Naruto, there was nothing to be worried about…_

"How are they?" He asked.

"I dunno… Haven't seen them…" She simply answered. "But they're in the medics' quarter getting a check-up… in case you want to see them." She suggested, which was answered by Naruto nodding and heading towards where his team would be, though not before he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

When he got there, he saw his team just standing up, meaning that they had just finished.

"Naruto-sensei!" Sakura cheered as soon as she spotted the blond. She rushed up to him and then stopped, as if unsure as to what she should do. She couldn't exactly hug him or anything.

"Hey everyone…" He mumbled as he looked at the three of them, inspecting their health and to see if there was anything different about them, other then the obvious exhaustion and the scratches that were littered here and there. That was all normal. He then saw that Sakura looked nervous, as if she wanted to tell him something… but didn't at the same time.

He then noticed that Sasuke's jaw was tense. Kiba also looked a bit fidgety now that he looked closer.

They were hiding something from him.

He began walking towards the door and motioned for them to follow him, which they did. After a while, they stopped in the canteen, which was now empty of everyone bar the 'lunch-lady' who was still there.

After they'd all gotten something to eat, he lead them over to a table which was situated in the far corner and waited a while before he spoke.

"What happened out there." Just by the sound of his voice they could here that this was serious and that he wouldn't accept anything but the truth and the whole truth.

They all looked at each other, silently asking who should speak first.

Sasuke decided that he should, as it mainly focused on him.

"We ran into some… trouble on the second day."

"What kind of trouble?!"

"Some weird freak found us. He… he was way too strong to be a genin, let alone a jounin"

Naruto's eyes widened, the others would have laughed if it had been at any other time. "_What?!... Are you alright?!_" He pushed.

"Yeah…" They all agreed.

"What did he want."

"…Sasuke… he wanted Sasuke…" Sakura said. sorrow evident in her voice. "He said that he wanted Sasuke to stay alive, but he didn't say why…"

"Yeah, he left this strange mark on him and said that Sasuke would seek him out for power…" Kiba added.

"Mark?... What do you mean?…"

"Yeah, he took a kunai and then he made a few cuts on the side of my neck… it kinda looks like an 'M'." Which was followed by Sasuke lowering the neck of his shirt to show his left shoulder, where the scar could be seen.

"… it's like a sign of… ownership… or a warning…" Naruto muttered as he studied it.

"A what?" Sakura inquired.

"I'm not quite sure, but taking into consideration that the guy said that he wanted Sasuke to stay alive, I'm guessing that something big is gonna happen and that that mark is a way to fend off other people… or perhaps it's a mark to show that he wants you… or something, I'm not quite sure if I have to be honest… But whatever it is, we need to be very careful and we need to be on the lookout. Someone of his strength shouldn't be in the chuunin exams, and then there's the fact that he _was_ there shows that this person is very powerful, as no-one detected or noticed him…"

"But that's horrible!" Sakura shrieked. She looked horrified, as did Kiba. But Sasuke… well… he looked very green.

Naruto quickly took a glimpse at his watch to check to time before he looked up again. "Listen guys. You have to meet with the examiners in the center hall, but before that, I need to have a talk with Sasuke, so why don't you two start heading over there." It wasn't really a suggestion, but thankfully they both understood the message and stood up with their trays and began to make their way out.

Once they were gone, Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Listen Sasuke, this is a very serious matter, it's not to be taken lightly. You need to be careful and if anything else strange happens, you need to notify either me or the Hokage immediately, understood?"

Throughout this, Sasuke had been listening intently, and when Naruto was finished, he gave a curt nod to indicate that he had heard and understood every word which had been spoken.

"Good, now, quickly follow me so that we can get to the center hall on time… hopefully…"

_**Center hall…**_

They had just made it in time and now all seven groups stood in lines with their respective senseis standing behind the teams. Everyone was quiet until the Hokage began to speak.

"Firstly, I would like to congratulate you all for making it this far. You have all done your villages proud. The last time that so many teams have made it through to the final round was nine years ago when the exams where held in Kirigakure. Now, I would like to explain the third par-…"

"-cough cough- Excuse me Hokage-sama, but I need to say something before you continue."

"Of course Hayate-san."

Said person turned around to face the other occupants in the room, namely the chuunin hopefuls and their senseis, though mainly the former.

"Sue to there being too many candidates who passed the seconds exam, so preliminaries will be taken in order to filter you out. You see, for the final exam, many important people will be attending, and we cannot afford to waste their time as they only want to see the best."

"Okay, before we begin, is there anyone who feels that they can't continue to fight?" He then proceeded to look around at the genins.

"No?... Good, now everyone, turn to the bored behind me so that we can see who will be fighting in the first match." Everyone then looked up and waited whilst all of their names began to scramble.

"Okay, could everyone apart from those two please make their way up to the viewing platform so that we may begin."

Yamanaka Ino stared at her opponent, feeling slightly smug that she'd gotten paired up against a fellow kunoichi. Ino herself had gotten the highest score on the physical part of the genin exam out of all of the girls in her class, so she has every bit of confidence that she would come out victorious.

However, she didn't know anything about the sand kunoichi who was standing in front of her. She calculated a bit as she observed her, and found that she only had on holster on, which meant she either had only kunai or shuriken. But then there was that large… thing on her back. She didn't know what that was, but it looked heavy and awkward, so she wouldn't worry about that.

Temari, on the other hand, was laughing on the inside. She could easily see that the leaf-nin didn't care much about the life of a ninja. Her body was not one of a kunoichi; it was one of someone who wanted to impress a guy. Her body was too thin, her arms too wiry and her hair was too perfect. Her movements look slightly awkward and she didn't have any enough strength in any part of her body… unless you counted her brain, but even that was debatable.

She'd been hoping for a good spar, but it looked like she wouldn't be that lucky. Pfft… oh well…

"Ready… BEGIN!" As soon as that was declared, Hayate jumped backwards, out of the line of fire.

Ino waited for Temari to make the first move, but she just stood there with a casual posture whilst her own fingers were twitching, wanting to dig into her holster to retrieve a kunai, but she would not make the first move.

'_Hm… looks like blondie here isn't going to move… so I guess that I'll have to if we're going to get this over with…'_

Temari then brought her fan from behind her out in front of her, leaning against it. She smirked when she saw the twitch her opponent made when she moved. '_Pitiful…_'

Ino knew that she couldn't wait any longer, she would become too jittery is she did. This was serious, if she didn't win, then she wouldn't get through to the next round.

Or even worse.

Sasuke wouldn't take notice to her.

'_That's right Ino, fight for Sasuke!'_

She then struck a pose and pointed a finger at the sand kunoichi. "HA! If I were you, then I'd back out now because there is absolutely _no_ way you can win."

"And why is that? Hm…?" She didn't seem all to bothered about it.

"That's because _I'm_ fighting for my love!" She then turned around so that she was looking at Sasuke. "This is for you Sasuke-kun and the love we share!" She then turned back around to face the kunoichi and then let out a growl when she saw that her opponent was struggling to keep in her laughter.

'_Haha… That look on that guy's face!... That was priceless!... I've never seen anyone that green before… Poor guy… Though… he is kinda hot…' _She then turned her attention to Ino. _'She's never gonna get him with that kind of attitude… oh well… her loss…' _

Suddenly, Ino moved, her hand reaching into her holster and her legs bending before she pushed herself forward, her hands forming a simple sign before there was a poof on her left and when the smoke cleared, a clone of Ino could be seen, running in sync with the original towards the sand kunoichi.

However, they didn't get very far as Temari simply swung her fan backwards, sending a strong gust which made the clone _poof_ and Ino falter in her steps.

Temari took the opening as she ran over to her and delivered a swift kick to the stomach, which sent her upwards slightly. This was followed by another kick to her side which sent Ino a couple meters back, in a pile on the floor.

"Is that all you got? Because if it is, then you might as well give up now and save yourself the embarrassment, and 'your loves' embarrassment as well, though I'm sure that he doesn't feel the same about you, especially since you're an embarrassment to all kunoichi. You're pathetic, you spend all your times just trying to look good when you should try and get stronger."

Ino ignored this as she tried to stand up, her hand clutching her stomach where she had been kicked. Her breath was uneven as she had been winded.

"I'm… not -grunt- gonna give up… that easily!" Which was followed by her placing her hands into a position which her teammates were all to familiar with. _"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"_ However, Temari jumped out of the way, despite the fact that she didn't know what that jutsu did. She then saw the other blond slump down to the floor, lifeless.

She smirked as she realised what jutsu had been used. She confidently walked over to her and grabbed her by the hair and raised her up so that they were eye to eye.

"Proctor, I think you should declare m-!" Before she could finish, she received a punch in the face, though it wasn't strong enough to break anything, it certainly did make her nose begin to bleed.

She didn't get to follow through though as she had been cast to the side.

As soon as her feet came in contact with the ground, she changed the direction which the force was taking her, and used it to sprint as fast as she could towards Temari, who had a hand holding her nose with blood dripping down.

She pulled out another kunai, intent on using, but it proved worthless as she was batted to the side in the last second by Temari's giant fan, slamming her against the wall, which knocked her out.

"He… lucky hit there, punk…" Temari mumbled to herself as she listened to the proctor declare her the winner.

She made her way up to her team as the medics took away her opponent. When that was done, everyone looked up at the board to see who would fight next.

Inuzuka Kiba

Vs.

Kankorou

* * *

**Hehe… I hope that the fight wasn't too bad… It took me a while to get it this good (when I say good, I mean by my standards of writing which involving fight scenes…)**

**OMG!! This must be a record… Less then 3 weeks since I last updated!!**


	13. Prelims no2

**Hello everyone… I would like to apologise for the long wait. But I have reasons… My laptop had received a nasty virus, and I couldn't use it for about 4 months… Then I got it fixed in the middle of December. My grandma was visiting us from Finland, so I spent time with her and stuff. Then, a person I know had a stroke and passed away on Christmas day… This was then followed by another friend of mine dying because of a dare-gone-wrong on New Years Day. And just to make everything better, I've had exams… As you can imagine, it hasn't been the easiest of times for me, so I hope that you can all forgive me.**

**IMPORTANT NOTE!**

**An anonymous person left this review, so please read it**

Why did you ruin all hope for this fic by making Naruto a **? Sure you said

'BI' basically a ** that can appreciate the beauty of a woman in an erotic

sense. It still means he likes to take ** in the ** which isn't cool when your

a guy or put his ** in other guys asses. I mean nothing against gay men...but

I don't want to see or read about it. Now lesbians are awesome since there's

almost nothing better than a beautiful woman...so two beautiful women together

is just plain awesome.

Seriously this fic had potential...albeit the explanation for Naruto's

origins were stupid, and you made him beyond weak for what you set up for him

being on Itachi's level who could have torn Zabuza apart in under a minute.

Sadly though you made Naruto like ** so unless you have a bunch of yaoi fan

girls reading your fic or a bunch of gay men I'd be surprised if you had half

the audience you had before you made that fatal mistake of having Naruto gay.

**My reply:**

**This isn't the first of its kind which I have received for this fic, but it is most likely the most biased which I have received… If there is anyone else out there who had been planning on leaving a similar review, then don't, as I do understand that there are people out there who don't like reading yaoi, and that's fine, I have nothing against you guys… **

**However, when people start leaving these kinds of messages under an anonymous name, then that's just sad. I didn't force you to read my story, you chose to! You shouldn't be complaining to me, you can just press the back button and forget all about it! ALSO!!!... It ****IS**** a NaruAnko fic which is a ****STRAIGHT**** pairing, so it's obvious that there won't be any graphic or present/future yaoi. There will only be some past tense yaoi and even that will be minor! It'll be similar to what was said in chapter 9 (?) when Naruto was confessing some of his past to Anko!... I'll try and place as many warnings in when there will be shounen-ai as there are some very awesome people who have continued reading my fic despite the fact that they don't like shounen-ai, but they are taking the high road by looking past it, and one of them even said that the shounen-ai present so far was tastefully done! (Thanks!) **

**Also!... There are reasons for his strength not being as high as one may assume, but that will be explained later one, along with more detail about his background and the reason why Tsunade left! I can't give it all away in the beginning of my fic, now can I?... This is why things have been kept in the dark. These things will be revealed later on in the fic!**

**Disclaimer: I don't Naruto.**

* * *

"YES! Obviously they'd want me to fight now, seeing as I'm oh-so awesome!" Kiba barked as soon as he saw his name on the board.

"Hey!" He shrieked as his arms flew up to wrap around his now-injured head, courtesy of Sakura, how had gotten a nice hit in when he wasn't looking due to him concentrating too much on being the next to fight.

"You shouldn't injure your team-mates right before they're about to go into an important spar, Sakura…" Naruto reprimanded, though the whole team could tell that he wasn't too angry at her, most likely because he had also thought that Kiba was being too loud.

Sakura blushed as she looked away with a hand rubbing the back of her neck, mumbling a quick 'sorry' whilst she did that.

"Anyway Kiba, I think you better hurry on down there…" Which was followed by him motioning down towards where Kankorou and the proctor where waiting.

He was gone within a second.

When he got down there, he came face to face with a grinning sand-nin.

"Heh, guess it took a while for you to build up the courage to come down here and face me like a man… mutt."

Kiba was about to retort when his eyes met Narutos. His mouth was shut before a sound could escape.

Naruto didn't look all too happy with the ease at which Kankorou had gotten under Kiba's skin. The look in Narutos eyes told him to concentrate solely on the match and nothing but the match.

He nodded slightly to himself as just looked at his opponent with a bored look, one which was to common to the one often seen on Sasuke. Hey, you learnt a few things from being on the same team as Sasuke!

Kankorou seemed to look a bit miffed about not getting a response out of the Inuzuka, but shrugged nonetheless and looked towards the proctor, along with Kiba.

Hayate looked at the two genin and saw that they were both ready to begin the match. He then raised his hand.

"Alright, begin!" And with that he lowered his hand in a quick chopping motion before jumping out of the way. He didn't know what method of combat the two shinobi used.

Kankorou had assumed that his opponent would just jump into the fight without a second thought, and, just by looking at the dog-lover he'd have been correct in his assumptions as he could see him shaking, trying to hold back from just leaping into the unknown.

So what was keeping him from moving?!

He didn't know.

Kiba, however, was determined to prove to his sensei that he was a great shinobi and that he _did_ have patience! And he'd be damned if he embarrassed himself in front of Naruto _and_ Sasuke! That was a big no-no. He didn't need to give them a reason to make fun of him. He didn't care too much about what Sakura thought, as she wouldn't be as… harsh?... as the other two?... No, he couldn't imagine it.

He raised his arms, and he saw his opponent twitch at the action.

He carried on raising his arms until they made contact with Akamaru, who was sitting on his head. He lifted him up and gently placed him on the ground. And just as his hands left the soft white fur, the pair were off, heading straight towards the sand-nin.

Kankorou had been caught off guard slightly, but he managed to jump out of the way, only receiving a small scratch on his left forearm, but nothing serious. He cringed slightly when he saw how he'd just thrown the 'parcel' which he'd been carrying on his back.

He felt a small shift in the air and jumped to his left, head first, so that he could place his palms on the ground and push off from the ground upwards, missing both the leaf-nin and his mutt. He landed about 6 feet from where he began.

Kiba and Akamaru stopped in their pursuit and looked at one another for a second before he smirked. Kiba made a hand sign before he said, "_Jūjin Bunshin._" This was promptly followed by two plumes of smoke appearing where both Kiba and Akamaru were standing. When the smoke cleared, there stood two identical… lycanthropic looking Kibas.

This was quickly followed by Kiba performing some more hand signs, followed by him shouting, "_Gatsūga._" Both Kiba and his look-a-like clone, Akamaru, started running towards Kankorou before flinging theirs arms clockwise, using the momentum to create two tornado-like bullets, or 'fangs', both of them heading towards Kankorou at full speed.

'_Shit!'_ was the thought which ran through the sand-nins mind. He flipped backwards in an attempt to get away, but they were going three times faster then he was. If he could only catch one of them… then he's win, but if there were on the move the whole time, then he wouldn't be able to het a hold of either one of them. Or… He could wait until they exhausted themselves… But he's also loose a lot of energy by dodging the pair.

However, his thoughts were put on hold as Kiba had thrown a smoke bomb which went off nearby where he stood. He put his hands to his mouth as he began to cough, which stopped suddenly as he got winded from being hit by one of the two leaf-nins. Luckily that one hadn't been at full force.

All of the other people who were watching the match couldn't tell what was going on.

When the smoke was gone, all of the other nins could see Kankorou hunched over slight, his arms wrapped around his stomach area. Kiba and Akamaru (though no-one could currently tell them apart) were a few meters away, hands on their knees.

Kankorou recovered rather quickly as he stood up straight, a confident smirk on his face.

Kiba, however, had a worried and slightly confused expression on his face. There was something strange about the guy… he didn't smell right… And he shouldn't have recovered that quickly either. Something wasn't adding up. He looked over at Akamaru and saw that he still had some energy left. But he also noticed that he was favouring his right leg over his left. He felt bad.

Akamaru had gotten injured when they'd met that mysterious shinobi in the forest, and it appeared that he was still hurting. And here he was, fighting for Kiba. His friend.

It was moments like these when he truly appreciated Akamaru and saw how special he was. Dogs truly were mans best friend. Without him-

He was pulled out of his stupor when he felt arms begin to wrap around his waist, but he swung his arms and luckily he hit him hard where his neck met the rest of the body, which lead to the arms loosening enough for him to jump away.

It was then he realised how much it _fucking_ hurt when he fist connected with the sand-nin. That wasn't normal at all! _Shi-_

_Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff. _

Weird...

He could swear that he could smell someone… very close to him. But there wasn't anyone by him. Strange… The only thing close enough was a huge… mummified cocoon looking thing.

Wait a minute…

The guy they were fighting wasn't using any ninjutsu or genjutsu… nor was his taijutsu anything amazing. He wouldn't have made it this far if he was without some sort of skill. So… Maybe… just maybe, he was using a… clone or something, one that didn't just disappear if hit.

Luckily Akamaru had been keeping the now-fake sand-nin occupied whilst he'd been racking his brain.

Whilst the sand-nin was busy, he reached into his pouch and took out a kunai, however, as he was about to get closer to the… what he thought was the _real_ Kankorou, he sensed the shift in the air and jumped out of the way, narrowly missing the black-clad shinobi.

'_So… he's defending it, which means that either the _real_ kanko-whatever his name is, is in there, or there's something valuable…'_

He quickly made his way over to Akamaru's side and saw that he wasn't doing too good. He then shifted his eyes over to Kankorou, and saw him standing protectively in front of the cocoon-thing.

His lip twitched upwards as he formulated a plan. He gave a soldier pill to Akamaru, and quickly whispered something in his ear before looking at the sand-nin, grinning.

His hand reached into his pouch and he pulled out another two smoke bombs, throwing one of them to the ground near Kankorou's feet. He quickly made some hand signs before muttering, "_Gatsūga._"

After a couple of seconds, the audience could hear another smoke bomb going off.

A minute passed, and the only sounds made were some coughing, grunts and what sounded like struggling noises.

Another minute passed before all of the smoke cleared.

When all of the smoke was gone, everyone stared in shock at the outcome.

Kankorou, or what people had thought was Kankorou, was in fact a strange looking puppet, which currently had multiple limbs wrapped around one of the Kibas. However, the other Kiba had a kunai in each hand, one of them having cut the wrappings which had been strapped around the cocoon, revealing the _real_ Kankorou. He had one kunai placed at on one side of his neck whilst the other was on the other side, making it impossible for Kankorou to move without getting any of his blood drawn.

A few coughs were heard coming from the proctor.

"Heh…" Kankorou said. "You do realise that if you do anything to me, I'll get my puppet to… _hug_ your little mutt over there!" Which was followed by a few confident chuckles.

However, it was a bit off-putting that Kiba was still smiling, like he didn't even care about his dog.

There was a puff of smoke where Akamaru and the puppet were, where a small white dog quickly emerged from, running towards his master.

When Akamaru had changed back into his real form, he'd had enough space to get out before the limbs had closed around him again, allowing him to get to safety.

Everyone was quiet as they were waiting with baited breath to see the outcome of the match.

The sand-nin looked around, well, as much as he could in the position which he was in, and, after not being able to come up with a solution to get him out of the mess he was in, let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Proctor… I… I give up." He said quietly, as though he was embarrassed. If someone looked closely, they would be able to see that he was looking up at his two teammates out of the corner of his eyes, almost ashamed. He clenched his jaw slightly.

"The winner is… Inuzuka Kiba!" which was followed by a few coughs.

Kiba, by now, was already half-way up the stairs with Akamaru in his arms. He was suddenly stopped by a hand on his shoulder which held on with a firm grip. He looked over his shoulder and, for some strange reason, wasn't at all surprised to find his young sensei there.

"Congratulations on your match Kiba, it was very impressive…" Kiba couldn't help the smile that reached his lips, nor the thanks escaping them.

"…However, I think you should go and get Akamaru checked… The puppet that he fought wasn't forgiving, and the hold he had on him didn't look nice at all…"

Kiba looked down at Akamaru and, sure enough, he looked uncomfortable in his arms, which indicated that he was in some sort of pain.

"Just turn left when you get out of the door, then follow the signs, even you should be able to do that…!" Naruto smiled cheekily at the small insult. He couldn't help it.

"HEY!" But Kiba still couldn't help grinning, as the adrenalin was still rushing through him.

"I'll talk to all three of you when all of the prelims are over, now… go on, shoo!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

Kiba looked up at the board just before he exited to see who would be fighting next.

Tenten vs. Izawa Riiko.

Too bad, he'd be missing a couple of chicks fighting… older ones at that…

* * *

**GAH!!! Sorry it took so long, I can't get Riiko's character quite right yet, so I was kinda delaying it, and I hadn't written the ending to Kiba's match…**** I couldn't make this chapter longer either… gomen…**

**So it's now 11:30, which gives me enough time to finish my chemistry homework before I have to go to bed.**

**Sorry for the length, or lack of…**

**And I know it's been over 7 months since I updated and that I'd said that I'd update sooner, but… better late then never, ne?!**

**29/04/09**


End file.
